Land Of Claws
by xCry13x
Summary: Three ninja's from the Land of Claws come into the scene. New clans that are unknown to the world due to the secrecy and the ways of the Claw. Naruto Get's a chance to explore the unexplored on his new mission, but can he handle what's about to get thrown at him? Rated T for some use of language.
1. The Request

**~Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to Naruto or any character based from Naruto~**

**This is something I started out of boredom with a friend. We thought it would be a good idea to post it and see what other people thought about it. Looking forward to reviews and hope you enjoy this first timer's off the top of the head story.  
**

_"_" = Speech_

_'_' = Thoughts_

_:_: = Location_

The Request:

Speaking with the Hokage, three ninjas from the Land of Claw await for a response to their request. "So your telling me that you wish to request assistance to an A Rank Mission but to your choosing of who you want to take?" says the Hokage in questionable contempt.

"Yes Ma'am" replies the joyess ninja with an eager smile. Wearing a sky blue kimono with cloud patches at various areas of the kimono. Tight black shorts with her village headband around her mid upper thigh. Her eyes are hazel with blue markings drawn on her face and short white-grayish hair wildly kept.

"We need to make sure that who we take back with us for this mission is the best you have to offer." Clarifies the hooded Ninja. Covered in a full body robe, black with orange lining. His hands sit hidden with the sleeve of the opposing arm and his clan emblem set at the forehead of his hood. Wearing their village headband over his nose and mouth as a mask with dark orange tone shades. "It's nothing personal, we just want to guarantee the success of this mission due to the delicacy of it's nature."

The Hokage turns around in her chair facing the three ninjas with her arms crossed. "It's going to be quite difficult to give into your demands due to the fact that almost all our ninjas who aren't guarding this village are away on missions as we speak." She gives a glare along with a grimly smile "..but I do have a small handful of highly qualified ninjas that would be more then glad to accept. Of corse you'll have to wait for one of the squads to return from their mission around noon, if you can wait that long that is."

"Great! Then all we need is the list of these qualified ninjas your speaking of so we can get a heads start reviewing them as we wait." Exclaimed the the joyful ninja.

"Why are we here Asamoya?" Asked the ninja with the lost goofy expression. Wearing dark purple robes down to her knees with boots the covering the rest of her legs downward. Lavender colored swirls and her clan's emblem are detailed into the robe. Her sword resting on her back with a blood red handle held within a black scabbard covered by her knee length black hair. Her face pale white complexion with deep blue eyes that appear to be stricken with frostbite. "Really, cause we got all we need with just us don't we?" Scratching her head, appearing as if she's really trying to give this idea some thought.

"According to the head house of the Hanketsu Clan, we're not enough. Even with one of their best, Kokugan, the clan wishes to not take things too likely." Explained Asamoya. "Plus, I don't think Kokugan has a rea..." Gets cut off by the hooded ninja.

"Let's just get this over with." Spoke in a low agitated manner "I don't wish to be here any longer, so get the shortlist of our candidates. Im going into town to eat" Paying respects to the Hokage, Kokugan bows and is the first to leave not bothering to wait for the rest of his team.

:Outside Tsunade's Office:

"As the squad leader you will do as I say Naruto!" Neji giving Naruto a demand with authority."Now stop acting childish and lets report to the Hokage already."

"Come on! Do I really have to be there?" Whining in the back Naruto holding his hands behind his head. "We already know what's goin to happen. Both of you are goin to say it was my fault that we failed the mission blah blah blah..."

"Because it was your FAULT!" Spoke with a raised voice with Akamaru barking in agreement. "All you had to do was keep the supplies safe while Neji and I insured that the caravan wouldn't get attacked by thieves." He continues in a calmer tone. "Not my fault your so dam clumsy."

"What did you say?!" Naruto said with excitement.

"You heard me whiskers. Your just so clumsy and useless!" Kiba shot back.

"Knock it off you two, Shizune is waiting for us outside the door." Trying to break the two apart. Neji turns to Shizune waiting for further instructions.

The Hokage's door is swung open and out rushes a hooded ninja cloaked in his black robes. Carelessly passes by the group breaking in between Kiba and Naruto taking their attention off of each other and onto himself.

Giving a look of curiosity quickly turning into furious gaze along with some shouting "Hey! What's the big idea? Don't you see we were having a conversation here?" Veins pop through the neck as Naruto yells hoping to grab the hooded ninja's attention.

"Yea, I agree with Naruto, that was rude. You coulda said excuse me or something you hardass." Giving an agitated tone. Akamaru begins to growl and bark as Kiba reaches to pet his head. "You said it boy."

'Who was that guy? It appears the Lady Hokage has had her hands full lately seeing that she's always cooped up in her office and constantly filled with people.' Neji was in deep thought when is was interrupted by some giggling that came from inside the office.

"Thanks Lady Hokage." Two girls dash outside "Hurry Asamoya, he isn't going to be happy if we interupt him while he's eating, so we need to give him the list fast." Then suddenly the goofy ninja stopped with her eyes wide open and shiny as they can be. "Ohh...My..Goodness! A puppie!" with excitement she cried out loud.

"I thought we had to go." Asamoya groans "So let's get goin then Michiyo." Yanks the arm of the star gaze eyed girl as she was about to touch the fleece of Akamaru. "We don't have time to play right now. Remember you said he'll be mad if we don't hurry."

"Aww, but I wanted to pet the dawggie." whined Michiyo as they took off.

"You guys are here much earlier then expected. Tsunade will be seeing you three now." Instructed Shizune with a smile.

:Inside Tsunade's Office:

"YOU DID WHAT?!" Tsunade's right fist pile drives the table in front of her breaking it into two and cracking the floor beneath it.

"I-I-I'm sorry Grandma Tsunade, I-I..." His heart in his throat preventing him from speaking. Naruto attempts to pick himself up "It wont happen again, I swear." Managing to get a few words out he quickly places his hands together bowing his head to the Hokage nervously.

"I guess you couldn't help it." With a much settler tone of voice Tsunade sits in her chair "Well, what's done is done, and now I got a new assignment for you guys." She grabs the file Shizune held close to her preventing it from getting mixed up with the other papers on the floor that fell off the broken desk.

"What's done is done? And your giving us a new assignment just like that?" Neji questioning her decision.

"Yea what gives? You usually beat Naruto senseless before giving him another mission." Wonders Kiba in a loud voice while Akamaru gives a confusing look with his head tilted to the side.

"Well normally, yes, I would beat him senseless and maybe I should, but.." Naruto steps back while nervously forcing a faint laugh, but goes unnoticed "..the thing is, I just got an A Rank Mission and it requires both Kiba and Naruto to be in top condition before making it official."

"And as for me Lady Hokage?" Neji asked politely trying not to interrupt her.

"Neji. Your uncle, Hiachi, has be waiting for your return with his own personal request of your assistance. See him right away." Dismissing Neji she turns back to Kiba and Naruto.

"Yes Lady Hokage." Neji bows and leaves quickly.

"As for you two.." Tsunade's voice starts rising again. "..you'll be meeting with your mission recruiter outside the training field behind the Konoha Memorial."

"Mission Recruiter?" Simultaneously questioned both Naruto and Kiba said while looking at each other with confusion.


	2. All Together Again

**~Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to Naruto or any character based off Naruto~**

**Ok, I went ahead and delivered Chapter 2 right off the back. I'll make updates weekly. Remember to review. I could use it to help direct this story into something great if I see that it's getting enough positive feedback.  
**

_"_" = Speech_**  
**

_'_' = Thouhts  
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_:_: = Location  
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All Together Again:

Just before noon, six of the Rookie Nine await for the arrival of this mission recruiter. Ino and Sakura both giggling about boys they've seen around the village while Hinata sits quietly with them patient. Choji scuffing down another bag of chips while Shikamaru lays back on a rock he happened to be leaning on watching his friend devour his tenth bag sense they arrived. As for Shino, off viewing a newly evolved butterfly leaving it's cocoon into a new life of freedom. Then Choji is first to notice the three shadow like figures approaching them in the distant. Everyone takes notice soon after and begin to regroup as they wait hoping to find out who brought them here in the first place.

"Hey look!" Shouts out one of the shadow hidden figures. "It's Sakura and the rest of the gang." Popping into view, Naruto runs up to Sakura. "Hey, what are you doin here?" Noticing Hinata standing next to Sakura as Sakura's blood starts to boil. "Ohh Hinata's here too, so does this mean you guys are waiting for this mission recruiter too?"

'He noticed me...' blushing while in thought Hinata couldn't speak a word before she noticed a sudden movement from her side had advanced forward towards Naruto.

Slamming a hard blow from the top of Naruto's head, Sakura shouts. "Yes we're waiting for the recruiter, your not the recruiter, were in the bloody hell is this dam recruiter?!" Sakura gets pulled and held back by Ino in attempts to calm her down while Hinata looks in shock as Naruto lays on the ground dazed from the attack.

"Sorry Naruto, Sakura was taken out of training for this meeting and hasn't had a thing to eat all morning." Ino speaks while faking a laugh hoping to make up for the assault.

The other two shadows come into view revealing themselves to be Kiba and Akamaru. "Hey Shino, hey Hinata. I guess we all got the call for this little get together didn't we?" Akamaru stands happily at Kiba's side seeing all his classmates are together again.

"It appears so." Shino says without hesitation being the only person who didn't move from his spot at the arrival of the three.

"So does anyone have any idea what's happening here?" Shikamaru exhales as he lays back on the rock which he was most comfortable. "I mean, does this recruiter really need all of us? And has anyone seen who this guy is?" Asks as he doesn't remove his gaze from the birds flying by above his view into the clouds.

"Ohh...my head." Naruto finally comes to. "Man Sakura, you shouldn't be hitting your friends like that." Rubbing his head as he steadily stands up from the floor.

Forcing a laugh. "hehehe..sorry bout that Naruto. It's just all this waiting kinda builds up and I had to release it somehow." With a smile that's as guilty as can be, Sakura apologizes.

"No kidding." Continues to rub his head. "And speaking of waiting..." Naruto looks out into the only pathway to the training grounds. "...were is this mission recruiter?"

"Shikamaru asked the same question and as far as anyone knows..." Opens another bag of chips with glee. "..this mission recruiter person is still unknown"

:Ramen Ichiraku:

"Oh..My..Goodness..! It's Him!" Excitedly Michiyo glares at a picture on a piece of paper.

"Not this again." Rolling her eyes, Asamoya jokingly spoke. "You know he's looks kinda ugly if you ask me Michiyo." Smirking at her.

"No he's not! He's adorable. I wanted to feel his fur but someone almost ripped my arm off!"  
Yelling with disappointment coming across her face.

"Ohh you meant the dog!" sarcastically. "I thought you meant the boy. Well, the dog is cute, bet you it has flees." Asamoya is now starting to tease. Michiyo turns and sticks her tongue at Asamoya before going back to the picture of a dog with his master. "Anyways, I wanna get my hands on this Nara kid. Ohh, he's soo dreamy." her Eyes start to sparkle at the site of the picture of a boy she's looking at.

"Careful, he might have flees or worse, rabies." Michiyo snaps back with a few shots of her own. Asamoya gives her a dirty look. "And besides, we're not here to get new boyfriends.." Michiyo speaks with her head held high trying to sound mature. "..we're on a mission to get some help to bring back to the village."

Asamoya appears stunned looking right past Michiyo. She brings up her hand to point into a direction in which only she's looking as she obtains Michiyo's attention. "Ohh...isn't that the dog from earlier?"

"WHERE?!" Michiyo turns too fast to realize she was sitting on the very edge the stool she's on causing her to fall off and lands on her butt. "Hey! that's not funny. That really hurt." rubbing her bruised bottom looking into the direction Asamoya was pointing seeing nothing that closely resembled a dog. "How come you can see the doggie and I can't?" Asamoya starts laughing until tears run down her face while Kokugan shakes his head before getting up from his seat.

"Ok, Lets go." Dropping exact change for the meal the three just finished. "It's time we see what the Leaf has to offer. Dark Technique: Chakra Possession Jutsu." Kokugan begins to hover just inches off the ground and heads out to leaving the girls once again as the two girls get up from their seats to follow him and start giggling about whole incident.

"Wait up guys, my butt still hurts" Michiyo mutters out loud from behind the other two while running with her hand on her sore bottom.

"Jeez, I would hate to be one of those girls" Ayame looks to her father with concern.

Teuchi glares out seeing as they walk off around the corner. "They'll be fine Ayame, we don't call them Ninjas for nothing." Coughing up a laugh to put her at ease. "Now lets get ready. I saw Naruto run by not too long ago. Maybe he's returned from a mission and boy do we know how he eats after one."

Smiling at the poor wise crack joking her father was doing. "Your right father. I'll get the pork ready. I doubt it'll be long before he stops by." Letting out a small laugh, she forgets about the three that had just left their Ramen Shop.


	3. The Mission Recruiters

**~Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to Naruto or any character based off Naruto~**

_**Ok, here's Chapter 3. Hope you enjoy. Sorry if the first two chapters seemed a little slow but things are about to pick up. Looking forward to your reviews.**  
_

_"_" = Speech_**  
**

_'_' = Thoughts  
_

_:_: = Location_

The Mission Recruiters:

Back at the Training Grounds behind the Konoha Memorial the Rookie Nine excluding Sasuke wait for their mission recruiter to show. As before the girls go back to talking about boys while Hinata just listens with her sights on Naruto. Choji is still eating with Shikamaru admiring the clouds and Shino in his same spot as before. Akamaru sound asleep on the grass next to Kiba who's pondering fiercely and Naruto sitting in the grass not too far from Kiba stabbing at it with his kunai.

"That does it!" He stands up shouting as he puts his kunai away and grabbing the groups attention. "This recruiter is taking too long. I wouldn't be surprised if it was Kakashi Sensei." Naruto exclaims.

"Actually, if you think about it, it just could be him. As far as I know, Kakashi Sensei is the only person who makes us wait all day before showing up when he's suppose to." Sakura says knowing that she might as well be waiting til the sun goes down.

"Are you serious?" Shikamaru sits up questioning Naruto and Sakura. Both of them simultaneously nod their heads. "Man, what a drag." He lays back to down to watch the skies. "It's well after noon and still no one besides us are here."

"Maybe we should go to Grandma Tsunade and complain that Kakashi Sensei is always keeping us waiting." Naruto starts making a sinister grin "And maybe we can get her to force Kakashi Sensei to take off his mask for us." Naruto holds his hands to his chest with such glee and happiness from the thought of Kakashi without his mask. Then his moment is interrupted by Kiba.

"Now your just being stupid." Laying down using the awaken Akamaru as a pillow. "Besides, even if it is Kakashi Sensei that's making us wait, we could at least take advantage of this time to rest a little longer for this mission we're suppose to go on"

"Kiba's right, we need to take advantage of this moment" Ino stands up noting the statement made by Kiba. "Who knows? What if Kakashi Sensei is still trying to get ready for this mission as well? It is an A rank mission after all and not another one of those D rank baby sitting missions." She says baring the memories of the kids she had to care for at the Daycare center by herself.

"Still isn't right making us wait like this." Naruto grunts as he flops back down on the grass.

"What can you do?" Hinata says faintly with a slight blush. Then she notices Naruto started to gaze her way. 'Ohh no, what did I say? Did I upset him? I should of kept my mouth shut.' She thought to herself nervously.

"Neh, your right Hinata" Naruto says disappointed and Hinata's expression becomes relieved. "Well, wake me up when he gets here." He says with his grand smile before laying down in the grass. Hinata smiles back as he lays out on the grass.

"Get to your feet you bunch of lazy kids!" Shouted the Hooded Ninja in the distance.

Everyone immediately following orders stand up and look in the direction of were the voice had come from. They noticed single figure coming towards them. Then they noticed something weird upon the figure's approach.

"Ahhhh..that hooded guy is floating. He's a ghost." Naruto shouts in fear. "Everybody run, he's coming this way."

"Dammit Naruto, calm down." Sakura says angrily. "I'm sorry, my friend is kinda an idiot." Faking a smile she's ignored by his presence. Naruto settles down a bit to notice the the floating hooded figure is no ghost.

"Kokuagan, why didn't you wait?" Running up from behind Kokugan. "Didn't you notice us falling behind?" Panting, trying to regain her breath spoke the joyful ninja.

"Yea, just because you can float off like that with your chakra possession doesn't mean you can't wait." The goofy ninja exclaimed in an annoyance from being left behind.

"Let's just get this started ok Asamoya? Michiyo?" He looks to them as they both nod. "Give me a copy of the list." Demanded Kokugan.

"Sure thing." Gladly handing him his copy Asamoya bouncing with excitement walks over to the Rookie Nine "Ok people, get into an orderly fashion so we can do a roll call." Viewing the paper as the candidates get into a lineup formation.

After regaining her breath, Michiyo's eyes widen as she looks down. "Ohh, the dawggie!" Happily says Michiyo.

"Wait a minute, your the girls from the Hokage's office?" Both girls nod with full face smiles at Kiba. "Then that must mean..." Kiba is interrupted before he can finish talking pointing at Kokugan.

"YOUR THE JERK FROM EARLIER TOO!" Naruto yells so loud it nearly causes Sakura and Shikamaru to go deaf from standing near him.

Sakura raises her fist and slams Naruto in the head. "Shut your dam mouth! You could of made Shikamaru and I go deaf you dam idiot!" regained her composer stands back in line.

"Does he always act like this Sakura?" Shikamaru putting his pinky into his ear suppressing the pain from Naruto's shouting. Sakura nods. "Man Naruto, your such a drag."

"You guys are sure a funny bunch." Asamoya smiles as she watches Naruto get up and back into line. "Ok, where were we? Ahh, yea, I'm Asamoya. This hear is.." Gets cut off.

"I'm Michiyo." Jumping up from petting Akamaru with a dopy look on her face waving her hand to everyone.

Asamoya continues to introduce themselves. "And this is, some of you know already.." Giving Kiba and Naruto a silly face with a wink. "..Kokugan. We are here on a mission to gather a few good ninjas that will be returning back to our land for your real mission."

"What do you mean real mission?" Choji asks with everyone looking at Asamoya with the same question written on their faces.

"Well..." Michiyo goes to Asamoya's side. "We are here to recruit only the best ninjas for the job back home."

"And there's no better way to find out who's best then to come ourselves and recruite you guys." Asamoya says with a big smile.

"Makes sense" Shikamaru holds his hand to his chin. "There's no point in sending some random ninja with random skills that could compromise a mission or possibly make matters worse. Only thing is, who's qualified for this mission and who's a burden to the success?"

'Wow. Not only is he cute, but smart too.' Tightly holding the clipboard to her chest she gazes at Shikamaru.

Michiyo looks at Asamoya curiously. "Hello? Earth to Asamoya, do you read me? Over." She starts knocking on Asamoya's forehead. "Come on girl, stop daydreaming and get with the program."

Snaps back to reality and clears her throat. "Oh, right. Ok as I call your name you will step forward and Kokugan will examine each of you one by one. Then step back in line afterwards."

"Yes Ma'am." Simultaneously said the Rookie Nine.

"First off, Naruto Uzumaki. Please step forward." Asamoya checks off the list.

"Gotcha!" Naruto says with a big stupid grin.

"Wipe that smile off your face!" Shouts Kokugan. "You a ninja. So present yourself like one."

Naruto stunned from being shouted at retaliates. "Hey! Why are you yelling at me for? I haven't even done anything wrong yet. You should be glad I'm here. Do you know who I am you creepy loo.." Naruto gets cut off as Kokugan gets in his face.

"I..Am..The..Reason..Your..Here..In..The..First..Place!" Kokugan stands back on his ground. Starts speaking in a laud tone with authority. "You guys are here for a mission, Right? And part of this mission is to be recruited for the real mission that you guys dearly wanted to be apart of, Right? So I can easily go back to your Hokage and tell her that this Village isn't worth our time let alone our presence if you don't wish to take this seriously."

"But you can't do that? Can he guys?" Kiba cries out in disbelief.

"Actually I think he can. Mainly because he is the client, he can freely chose whether or not if we are worth their time and money." Shino says without hesitation.

"So what's it goin to be Uzumaki?" Glaring at Naruto, Kokugan waits for his answer.

"Yes Sir, as you wish sir." completely nervous as he's inspected by Kokugan. 'Man this guy doesn't play games. I really want to see what this mission is about if they sent this guy to pick out the who they want. I can't let someone like him get in my way of bettering myself and becoming Hokage.'

"Analysis sir?" Standing to the side with pen and paper waiting, Asamoya looks to Kokugan.

"His Chakra level is immensely high. That's just his own and not the hidden build up of chakra inside his body stored somewhere." Asamoya and Michiyo both get a closer look at Naruto as he becomes even more nervous with the two girls now in his face. Hinata seeing the girls being so close to him it makes her a bit jealous.'That built up chakra he has, it's different from his own. Much more powerful.' "His physical appearance says he's able to perform but his personality says that he isn't worth more then the smelly shirt he's wearing"

"Hey! Take that back!" Naruto demands with his fists up and appearing ready to fight.

"I will not, I can still recruit you, but threatening me with your fists wont help you at all if you chose to continue." Kokugan doesn't even return a look as he waits for Naruto to respond.

Putting his hands back to his sides he falls back in line. Naruto's high energetic spirit has been temperarily broken. "Fine, as you wish sir."

"Ok, now on to our next Candidate. Sakura Haruno. Please step forward." Eager for Kokugans review she stands waiting as Sakura steps forward.

"Interesting." Glancing at Sakura. "You chakra is great indeed base and from what I've read. You also happen to be a Med Ninja. Which means you have absolute control of it as well." Kokugan walks away from Sakura. "Who's Next Asamoya?"

With sparkles in her eyes. "Shikamaru Nara." She almost literaly floats to him.

As they continue down the line Kokugan reaches Hinata being second to last to inspect. "So your the famous Hyuuga Heiress, Princess Hinata." Everyone turns their heads to Kokugan with curiosity to how he knows who she is.

"H-How do you kn-know that?" Stuttered Hinata as she looks at him.

"Our clan leaders know each other very well. Only difference is my clan wishes not to be viewed in the public eye like the Hyuuga Clan does." Explaining his acknowledgement of her. "Now for the inspection." Hinata stiffens up to be inspected. "This girls chakra is great. Not bad for an Hyuuga Heiress." Kokugan removes his right glove and reaches for her face to examine her.

'What is he doin? He's touching my face. His hand is so gentle, but why of anyone would he chose to touch my face?' Hinata's body starts to shake as sweat runs down her face. She begins to faintly blush as he holds her face inside his hand. 'Calm down Hinata, you can do this. But why am I doin this? My body only reacts like this when Naruto is around me, so why with him now?' Hinata almost faints as she sees Kokugan's hidden eyes stare into her's from inside the hood he wears and behind a pair of dark orange sunglasses.

He puts his glove back on. "You appear to be ill, as if with a fever and cold sweat." Looking at her trembling body he turns away to the line of candidates. "Listen to me kids. There's nothing worse a ninja can do then to report to duty or accept a mission of great delicacy under 100%." Looking back to Hinata." If I had to chose, you would be on your way home right now. Lay down on the grass and don't move until instructed to." Following orders, Hinata goes to lay on the grass to regain her energy exerted from the intense examination.

"You know you don't have to be so mean to her like that?" Defending Hinata, Kiba attempts to take a stand for her. "She's a valuable asset to any team any day! You know what your prob..." Interrupted by Michiyo

"Kiba!" Squeaked Michiyo with a big grin on her face. Saving him from Kokugan's retaliation.

"Yea?" Giving Michiyo a disappointed look as she had interrupted his lecture to Kokugan.

"What's your doggies name? He's so adorable." Down on her knees hugging and petting Akamaru. "And soft too."

"Haha..His name is Akamaru. He's my Ninja Dog." Holding his hand behind his head as he says that with a proud smile.

"You should keep him on a leash." Blasted Kokugan. "As for your examination Kiba" Kokugan steps closer. Kiba nearly falls backwards from how close Kokugan has gotten. "Your skills are just as good as hers if not better because your a two-man ninja using your dog. That makes you even more valuable." Steps away from kiba giving his space to breath. "Get up Michiyo, this isn't nap time with strange muts, we're just about to get this examination started." Kiba and Akamaru begin to growl at Kokugan faintly.

"Yay!" Jumps with excitement and joy. "Kiba, promise you'll play nicely with me ok?"

Confused, Kiba looks at Michiyo. "Um..Sure why not?" 'What does she mean by "Play nicely with me?" I got a bad feeling about this.' Forces a smile at her he then turns away to give Hinata a helping hand back to her feet.

"Ok, Now that we are done here. It's time for the main part of this examination!" Cheerfully says Asamoya as she smiles on. "Please start heading into the training grounds right behind you. Then we will explain the details once we get inside."

"Ohh boy,this can't be good." Worried, Sakura is first to walk onto the training grounds.

"Sound's like we're going to finally have some fun." Naruto says with a grin. His spirit has returned.

"Man, first all the waiting, then the inspection, and now this? What a drag." Moans Shikamaru.

"I hope nothing too intense happens. It's been a long day." Ino walks cautiously behind Choji and Shikamaru.

"I'm sure nothing to intense will happen. After all, they need us in top condition in order to perform our mission." Kiba tries to comfort Ino's worries and doubts about what may be in store for them to come.

Now with everyone inside the training ground Michiyo stands in front of the rookie nine. "Ladies and Gentleman, Children of all ages." The Rookie Nine all look at Michiyo with mixed expressions on their faces. "The moment we've all been waiting for. The grand main event. The one an..."

"Hurry up!" With a raised voice in annoyance. "We don't have all day. I would like to get some sleep before leaving in the morning with our new team for the village." Kokugan turns to take a seat that was laid out on the floor of the training ground.

"Heh..Opps, sorry, got carried away." Faintly laughs with her dopy smile, Michiyo continues "Now, for your final exam, each and everyone of you will fight one of the three of us." She says with a more serious tone. "You will get to chose who you face as that person will judge your abilities and skills."

"So as we sit down.." Asamoya heads to the seat placed next to Kokugan. "..you guys will form a line in front of the person you wish to challenge and prove your worth for this mission we bring."

Commotion stirs amongst them as they look confused. Finally Naruto being the first to step up to the three Claw ninja with confidence. "I challenge you Kokugan, and trust me, I'll make you regret putting me down like that in front of my friends!" With a huge grin that convinces the rest to step up and chose who they wished to challenge.

Looking up to Naruto with his hood slipping back just enough to see his face pop out. Wearing his band as his mask covering half his face and shades darkened orange tone tipped down revealing his coal black eyes that makes Naruto's confident laugh come to a halt. "Now we'll just have to see about that don't we, Naruto Uzumaki?" Both taking an intense glare into each others' eyes with great fierceness behind it.


	4. Naruto's Proving Moment

**~Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Naruto or any character based off Naruto~**

**Here's Chapter four. Hope you enjoy it.  
**

_"_" = Speech_

_'_' = Thoughts_

_:_: = Location_

Naruto's Proving Moment:

As Naruto and Kokugan continue their stare off, Kiba walks up behind him to declare his challenge. "Don't hog all the fun Naruto, I wanna get a piece of this punk as well." He says with a grin placing his right fist into his left palm with determination.

"Fine by me, but I get first dibs on Mr. Raincoat over here." Spoken with the intent to kill Naruto has yet to remove his glare off of Kokugan.

"HEY!" Michiyo shouts as she gets up from her seat. "You said that you were goin to play with me." Her face begins to sadden as she sits back down.

"I-I did?" Kiba turns to her nervously caught off guard.

"Don't you remember?" Michiyo stats letting out a soft cry. "And here I thought you dog people were loyal people even when making promises." Sniffling with her head down a tear falls off her cheek onto her lap.

'Man, this girl is goin to drive me crazy. What should I do?' Deciding to make Michiyo happy he gives in to her wishes. "Ok, ok, I have a quick match with you." Hoping he was able to ease her crying he gives her an assuring smile.

"A quick match?" She asks loudly with tears in her eyes. "You said you'll be nice. All of you boys are always so mean."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that." Quickly responding Kiba now worried bout the situation he put himself in. "What i meant to say was, that I would be more then happy to play with you." 'Ohh boy, I have a bad feeling about this. One thing is for sure, this wont end well for me.'

Looking back up with a smile, Michiyo wipes her eyes of the tears. "Yay, we're goin to have so much fun, I can almost feel it." A big grin comes across her face.

"I-I'll chose Ko-Kokugan-san as well" Hinata stutters out. Everyone glances her way. She takes notice and tries to insure she'll be fine. "Come on, this is a test an-and I wish to sh-show that I am m-more then capable."

"You know you don't have to take this guy right?" Concerned for Hinata Naruto attempts to change her mind. "He seems to be really strong, wouldn't you prefer one of the others?"

"No!" Hinata shouts. "I m-mean, no N-Naruto-kan. If I can't prove this guy that I'm am able to do anything and surpass his expectations of me, then what good am I really?" Hinata compassionately defends her reason to challenging Kokugan. "I might as well go home now like he said if I can't show that I too like everyone here has what it takes." 'oh no, I yelled at Naruto. He's not going to like that. Maybe I should play it safe and take on one of the others. This guy does seem like more then I can handle.'

"Your right Hinata." Naruto said proudly of Hinata's answer. Hinata relieved that he also believes she made a good decision smiled. "You should show this hard ass how strong you really are. Then He'll think twice about insulting us like that again." Standing tall Naruto insures Hinata that there would be nothing to worry about. 'Still, just this guy's presence freaks me out. I'm not even sure if it's safe so say that out loud in front of Hinata sense she's looking to me for her confidence. Either way, I'll have to take care of him first and fast so Hinata's chances look better when it's her turn.'

Walking up to Asamoya. "I, Sakura Haruno, Challenge Asamoya Kumo from the Land of Claw to battle." Standing in front of Asamoya bold, strong, and full of spirit she watches Asamoya look her way.

"Ah, this is going to going to be fun." Asamoya looks up with a grin. "Just don't disappoint me girl."

"Trust me, if anyone should be worried about getting disappointed, it's me." Sakura boldly shot back.

"Good. Oh, I suggest you bring your A game because I don't like to lose so easy." Standing up meeting Sakura eye to eye growing a tension between the two.

Finally after everyone has chosen who they wished to be their examination match partner they walk out into the middle of the training grounds.

Asamoya quickly whipping out a pen and paper started to jot down names. "Ok, to insure you guys have chosen who you wish to battle, I'll read out the matches in no particular order." Asamoya looks up from the paper to make sure she has everyone's attention. "Now, the following challenger who will be facing me are; Sakura Haruno, Choji Akimichi, and.." Asamoya's eyes begin to sparkle with excitement in her voice. "..Shikamaru Nara."

"I can't believe I chose to fight a girl." Shikamaru moans loudly to himself. "What a drag."

"Ok, the challengers for Michiyo.." gathering her self quick enough to get this ordeal moving along Asamoya continues. "..are Ino Yamanaka, Shino Aburame , and.." stares at Michiyo with a teasing smile. "..her boyfriend Kiba Inuzuka." She lets out a giggle after saying his name.

"He's not my boyfriend!" Michiyo shouted at Asamoya.

"Oh? I thought you said he was cute." Giving Michiyo a dumb look with her right index finger resting on her bottom lip before giggling again.

"I said Akamaru was cute!" She turns to Akamaru and leans towards him. "And we're going to have so much fun aren't we?" Giving a huge smile she grabs Akamaru before he had time to run and begins to hug him.

"Finally, last but definitely not least. The challengers to face Kokugan are.." Asamoya looks towards Michiyo for a drum roll. Michiyo seeing her glance notes and without word does just that. "Naruto Uzumaki and Hinata Hyuuga. The best of luck to each of you and do your best."

Kokugan begins to walk to the side of the group and grabs their attention. "Shall we begin?" Just as fast as he asked his question Naruto leaps out before letting Kokugan announce the order of the matches.

"Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto shouts in desperate attempts to start and finish the match as fast as he can. 100 Naruto clones fill the area forcing everyone to the sidelines. 'I have him off guard, now that I have the upper hand let's see what he's going to do.'

"Naruto! You dam idiot, you could of at least waited for everyone to clear the field before starting a fight!" Shouting with rage Sakura wanted to take out Naruto herself but had to let him fight for his chance of being part of this unknown mission.

"Sorry guys, I just wanna give this guy a piece of my mind and show him his place in the Leaf Village." Naruto answering for his rash move for jumping into the heat of battle on a moment's notice. 'Sorry Sakura. I have to do this. For Hinata's sake I have to break this guy enough so Hinata wont have it so rough when it's her turn.'

'Impatient little pest. Looks like I'll have to teach you some manners.' Kokugan looks at him nerved at the fact Naruto chose to start their match without be told to. "Ok Uzumaki, let's see what you got." Stretching out his arms he quickly brings his hands together. "Dark Technique: Multi Chakra Clone Jutsu!" 100 clones emerge on the battle field.

'What the..?' Naruto feeling for a moment as if something has just drained him. 'Those clones, it feels as if I summoned them. What the heck is this guy?' Standing with his Clones behind him Naruto leads out a battle cry charging into the opposing clones for an all out hand to hand clone battle. After several minutes of fighting and none of the clones vanquished Naruto starts to take notice. 'This wont get me anywhere. Time to vanquish some of these clones of his.' Simultaneously Naruto and his clones jump into the air. "Take this!" Naruto and his clones take to the skies and make it rain of kunias onto the training field.

Quickly both Kokugan and his clones release smoke bombs hidden inside their sleeves to conceal themselves. As the Naruto clones return to earth, the remains of the Kokugan clones submerge from the smoke meeting Naruto's clones. "Chakra Overload Jutsu!" Each taking multiple strikes at the Naruto clones they attack with their right hand encased in a purple chakra causing the Naruto clones to combust on contact. After the last of the clones have been taken care of Kokugan disperses his own clones. "Come on Uzumaki. Don't tell me that's all you have." Taunting Naruto he doesn't even look up to see where Naruto maybe hiding.

'Dam this guy is fast on his feet. But why get rid of his clones if he knows that they could provide the help he needs.' Naruto observes the situation from behind a tree. "Don't worry Mr. Raincoat, I'm just getting warmed up." In a flash three kunias are thrown towards Kokugan. But before Kokugan could begin to dodge them they exploded right in front of him from the paper bombs that were placed on them. As the smoke clears he see three Narutos charging straight towards him. One, a clone, grabs the real Naruto in the center by his left wrist. The other Naruto clone builds up chakra in his the real Naruto's right hand. Using the clone on his left he launches himself towards Kokugan as he's released both clones disperse. "Rasengan!"

'Ah, nice trick, but it's useless and now it's game over for you Uzumaki.' "Chakra Overload Jutsu!" Kokugan Charges forward to Naruto with his right hand encased once again with his purple chakra striking Naruto dead on attack to attack.

Just before direct contact a blinding light followed by a massive shock wave nearly taking out a few trees by the roots. The training ground is heavily buried under dust and debris. It take a few minutes before anyone could see whats going on.

"What just happened? I can see a thing." Sakura said worried. 'Come on, come on, come on. I need to see what happened.' Impatiently she waits.

"Byakugan!" Hinata checks the field looking for both combatants. "Sakura, it's ok. they're both still alive, but Naruto is down." Hinata begins to worry.

"Don't worry Hinata, Sakura. This is Naruto, he wont let a creep like him finish him this easy." Kiba using just the right words needed to re-insure their unsettling feeling of what's going on.

The dust and debris begin to subside and in view the two can finally be seen. Kokugan is down to one knee while Naruto is laying down bringing his face out of the ground to see where Kokugan's position is.

'That jutsu. How can someone like him..how can he even..wait! It must be something with that large amount of chakra he has. I need to finish this soon. Who knows what else he has up his sleeve.' Steadily Kokugan is the first to return to his battle stance as he waits for Naruto to do the same.

Pushing himself, Naruto slowly manages to bring himself up. 'What the hell was that? This guy is a lot stronger then I could imagine. If it were anyone else here they would be flat on their faces just like I was. Instead he was only down to one knee and few feet back from the impact. As for me...I need to end this fast.' Quickly as soon as Naruto stood up. "Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

"Cute trick kid. But what's the use when I already know what your going to do?" Kokugan shakes his head in disappointment hoping Naruto would reveal something he hasn't seen yet. 'Doesn't he realize that I can just use my mutli clone jutsu and counter his?' He begins to stretch out his arms again as before.

"Oh no you don't!" Naruto with his clones surrounding Kokugan quickly reacts. "Multi Shuriken Jutsu! Try getting out of this one Mr. Raincoat!" With confidence Naruto watches his attack shower him with skurikens, quickly coming into contact preventing Kokugan from using his own multi clone jutsu. In the heap of the strike dust and debris is kicked up around Kokugan. Just as it clears Naruto witnesses something he didn't expect.

"Oh no! I think you went too far Naruto." Sakura watching as the dust settles.

"Don't worry your pretty little head pinky." Michiyo said with a grin crossing her face. "There's nothing your friend there can do that Kokugan can't handle. Just watch." And she was right, as the dust cleared they all saw what had happened.

"Chakra Barrier Jutsu!" Kokugan stands in the middle of an encased chakra bubble that's shielded him from the inescapable attack. 'Clever you are Uzumaki, but unfortunately for you. Your facing me.' He glances into Naruto's face just taunting him, calling to him, challenging Naruto to bring it all.

'Dang it, now it's all or nothing.' Charging in with all his clones Naruto goes in fast with kunais in hand. "Time to finish you off once and for all!" 'Even with his shield, it shouldn't be able to handle this many attacks for long. And when it breaks, BAM, lights out for Mr. Raincoat.'

Seeing the situation has become quite intense Kokugan drops the shield he placed to protect him and prepares to attack. "Chakra Barrier Strike!" Slowly he vanquishes each clone one by one dodging attacks from behind and countering those from head on.

"Amazing." Choji says softly.

"Isn't it?" Asamya looks on. "This is his 'Chakra Barrier Strike'. It's so fast to counter every attack Naruto's clones make that it appears as if it were a shield from the points of impact. He only uses this jutsu when he's dealing with a barrage of attacks to avoid chakra overuse on his normal chakra shield." Explaining the details to the group she holds confidence in her partner. 'If they think this is something, they haven't even seen him actually try. This match is over.'

Now that all of the clones have finally be defeated it's just Naruto and Kokugan facing face to face. 'Man this guy's tough. Who woulda thought someone like him could take so much and not have a scratch to show for it.' Naruto looks onto his opponent reaching in for one last attempt to break this guy who insulted him earlier and made him look like a fool. "Time to end this Kokugan, Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Four clones appear this time. Two of them head dead on with kunais in hand while two hang back.

"My words exactly Uzumaki, Chakra Clone Jutsu!" Two clones of his own appear and head in to counter Naruto's first two clones. Quickly beating the two clones into a cloud of smoke Naruto has sent himself flying straight through Kokugan's two clones dispersing them. "No! Not this again!"

"Rasengan!" Naruto at full force flies through the air reaching his target at a fast rate looking dead locked onto Kokugan's eyes he actually sees a moment of panic.

'Oh no, I can't believe this runt caught Kokugan off guard like this with such a sneaky attack.' Michiyo finally gives a sight of concern for what's going to happen.

"Looks like Naruto has this in the bag." Celebrating Kiba watches the final seconds of Naruto's attack.

"Chakra Pin Needle Jutsu!" Just before Naruto can reach him, his hand full of chakra had vanished. Then his chakra reappears but this time all around him from a distance as it begins to form.

"What the..?" Shikamaru unable to finish his question due to surprise.

"That cutie, is Chakra Pin Needle. It steals the opponents visible chakra and uses it against them. Depending on the person this can have effects varying on that person's strength and chakra nature." Asamoya says watching the jutsu take form.

"But Naruto's chakra nature is wind. What's that going to do?" Sakura asked as she watches hopelessly from the side.

Michiyo grins as she answers. "Oh you'll see, lets just say it'll take his breath away."

Finally the Jutsu has formed and 100 shaped needs as thin as a stand of hair each surrounding Naruto quickly bury themselves into his body. "AHH!" Naruto screams in agony as he's pierced 100 times with his own chakra. 'What the hell is he? What kind of jutsu does this guy use? Is this the end? I'm sorry Hinata, sorry I couldn't soften him up for you.' Just as he falls to the ground from the attack he finds himself out of breath struggling to breath.

In that very moment Kokugan makes his move. Swift and fast, he leaves his shades behind floating in mid air. "Dark Technique.." Grabs Naruto's face with both hands looking dead on into his eyes. "..Nightmare Gaze!" Naruto's body goes limp. The high energetic ninja is without movement. Kokugan returns to his floating shades and puts them back on.

"And the Winner by technical knockout is Kokugan!" Asamoya shouts in excitement.

As for the rest of the rookie nine, they rush to Naruto's side. "Don't worry, he's not dead." Michiyo walks up the group with a cocky expression on her face. "He's just sleeping, well lets say this nap won't be pleasant."

"What d-do you mean by w-won't be pl-pleasant, Michiyo?" Hinata asks in fear of Naruto's well being and the concern that she now has to face Kokugan after watching possibly the strongest person from the group get taken out with ease.

"What she means is that any and all fears he has will haunt him in his sleep." Kokugan says with no remorse for his actions. "He'll be out for a little while, just be prepared for our match Hinata. I wish to battle you after my team finishes the rest here."

'What have I done? I can't beat him. Oh Hinata, you really messed up big time now.' Hinata faints unable to bare the thought of fighting someone who holds no mercy to another human being. Kiba and Shino tend to her side after fainting.

"Now it's my turn!" Running out to the field Asamoya calls out her first challenger. "Let's go Sakura. I don't have all day."

"Don't worry, this wont take long Asamoya." Sakura charges with field with confidence.

"Naruto-kun" unconscious Hinata faintly speaks. 'H-help me..' Kokugan looking down towards Hinata watching her, notices a tear roll down her cheek.


	5. Make A Choice

**~Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Naruto or any character based off Naruto~**

**Here's Chapter five. Hope you enjoy it.  
**

_"_" = Speech_

_'_' = Thoughts_

_:_: = Location_

Make A Choice:

"Chakra Enhanced Strength!" Sakura twists her body to the right with her fist prepared for striking. 'Lets see how you handle this hit.'

"Thunder Technique: Nerve Damage Strike!" Asamoya, mimicking Sakura's movements but with an attack of her own. 'You wont be standing after this I promise.'

Both ninjas, exhausted, launch themselves directly into one another. When they make contact a shockwave so strong it literally craters the ground beneath them into a depth of four feet and a radius of fifteen yards all around. Being struck by the others' attack both are thrown back ten feet landing in the ground. Sakura tries to get up first but Asamoya's attack is preventing her from making her body do as she wants. As for Asamoya, she's unable to move from the brute force that Sakura used managing to counter her attack.

"No way!" Shikamaru suddenly interested in what's going on. "How did they manage to counter each others' attack and create such a massive crater?"

"No idea." Stumped Michiyo tries to figure it out herself.

"This match is over Michiyo. Go get Asamoya and have her rest." Kokugan orders as he doesn't remove his glare at the training field that's now imprinted with the attacks from the two ninjas.

"Ok, it looks like we have a 'Double KO'.." Michiyo announces as if she were a referee. "..so now if you can come and get your respective teammate we can continue onto the next match while these guys rest." Quickly she runs over to Asamoya helping her up while Kiba and Ino bring Sakura to the sidelines as well.

"Michiyo.." Grabbing her attention, Kokugan calls to her. "..you're next and if I'm right, your first opponent is Kiba isn't it?" He turns his head to stare at her waiting for her answer.

"Oh yea!" She gives Kokugan a grand smile. Then she turns away. "Kiba! It's our turn to play. This is going to be so much fun." Michiyo begins to squeal in enjoyment as she runs back down the crater that was once a training field after setting Asamoya down to rest.

"Ok Akamaru, let's do this." Confidently he charges towards the crater. "Let's let her have her fun, then we take care of business, got that?" Kiba informs Akamaru as he barks in agreement.

'Look at this girl.' Kokugan begins to study Hinata from were he's sitting. 'She should of chosen Asamoya or Michiyo. She's far too weak to be facing me.'

:THE NIGHT BEFORE:

At the Hyuuga Mansion. Late at night with a thick mist surrounding two dark shadowed figures. One of the figures is on one knee with his back to a faint light from a nearby lamp bowing to the other figure. "I accept." The kneeling figure gently speaks.

"Good, and make sure you do as your told, got that?" Spoke in a harsh manner. The other figure who's face is covered from the lamp's light from a low hanging tree branch. "She may be a Hyuuga but she's weak. There's a chance she'll even be a burden to you. Her caring and kindness is a flaw to the Hyuuga Clan that will force me to relieve her of her title and hand it down to her sister." Heavy in tone the disappointed figure continues. "Your clan is the best at what they do, so I expect you to do what you were trained to do."

"Nothing will happen. I'll guarantee the success of this mission with my life." The kneeling figure responds.

"Good. Now get out!" Demanded the hidden face figure.

"Yes sir" Just as he said it, he was gone into the thick mist that surrounded them.

:PRESENT MOMENT:

'Flaws..' He thinks to himself. '..like that are what make a ninja weak. She's better off quitting while she can.' Kokugan's deep thoughts are interrupted by a thundering sound from within the crater.

"Kiba dear, it looks like you missed again." Taunting Michiyo prances around blowing kisses to Kiba while winking at Akamaru.

"Dammit! Stay still then." He shouts. "Let's show her our special trick buddy." Kiba looks over to Akamaru. Barking, he gets into position. "Human Beast Combination Transformation: Double-Headed Wolf!"

Miciyo's eyes double in size and begin to reflect the light glaring from the sun above her. "That is so adorable." Mesmerized by the sight, she leaps towards the two headed beast. "Come here and give me a huge!"

'What the..? This girl is a wack job. oh well let's end it here and now.' "Fang Wolf Fang!" Kiba darts at the clueless ninja. He quickly makes contact and knocks her back slamming her into the ground below. 'Yes! Direct hit.' Then something catches his eye.

"Now that wasn't very nice kiby-poo." Michiyo looks at her broken ice clone on the ground with a disappointed look. "Looks like you've been a bad boy. I thought we were having fun. I guess play time's over." She grabs her shuriken that's covered in ice and obtains her battle stance.

'You got to be kidding me, all that and it was an ice clone?' Now with a worried expression in his eyes Kiba takes a step back to predict her next move.

Kokugan begins to fall back into thought. 'Naruto is good, I can't deny that. Hinata on the other hand, I'm not quite sure she's ready for this.'

:THIRTY MINUTES AGO:

"I-I'll chose Ko-Kokugan-san as well" Hinata stutters out. "Come on, this is a test an-and I wish to sh-show that I am m-more then capable."

"You know you don't have to take this guy right?" Concerned for Hinata Naruto attempts to change her mind. "He seems to be really strong, wouldn't you prefer one of the others?"

"No!" Hinata shouts "I m-mean, no N-Naruto-kan. If I can't prove this guy that I'm am able to do anything and surpass his expectations of me, then what good am I really? I might as well go home now like he said if I can't show that I too like everyone here has what it takes."

"Your right Hinata." Naruto said proudly."You should show this hard ass how strong you really are. Then He'll think twice about insulting us like that again."

:PRESENT:

'So you wish to prove yourself to be strong. I guess this match with her can help me with my Tekio Suru Dojutsu sense I've never experienced the Gentle Fist technique before.' Kokugan returns his attention from Hinata back to the battle in front of him.

Using the nearby trees as leverage to gain momentum in speed, both Kiba and Akamaru bounce off of them into their next attack. "Fang Passing Fang!" Just before Kiba could fully launch himself off the tree he sees it coming.

"Kunai Frost Restraints!" Four frozen kunais speed directly at him not giving him the chance to dodge as they meet their mark. "Gotcha." Giving kiba a silly face and a wink she walks over to him.

"Hey, what gives?" He looks over and notices the the kunais were paired up by chakra formed into string using them to tie around his wrists and pin him into the tree behind him. Akamaru cancels his beast human clone. "Get her Akamaru, before she gets any closer." Kiba desperately calls out to Akamaru for assistance.

"Aww, look at the cute dawggie trying to protect his master. Don't worry Akamaru, I wont hurt him." Ignoring Akamaru's threatening barks she walks over to Kiba. She whispers to him as she gets closer to his face. "Ice Technique: Frost Bite Kiss." She then proceeds to kiss Kiba on the side of his neck and Kiba's body goes cold from the neck down, too frozen to move. "Looks like I win." With a huge grin on her face she then goes to Akamaru. "See? I told you I wouldn't hurt him."

Akamaru seeing his master in a frozen but unharmed state begins to calm down enough to be petted by Michiyo. "Hey! You traiter. You could at least untie me first before you get friendly with this nutcase." Kiba upset that he ended up tied to a tree while Akamaru plays with the same girl who tied him up.

"N-Naruto-Kan.." Regaining consciousness Hinata sits up to see Shino standing at her side and Kiba stuck in a tree. 'Why is Kiba stuck in a tree while that girl is playing with Akamaru?'

"In case your wondering Hinata.." Predicting Hinata's exact thoughts, Shino answers. "He just faced someone who uses a Kekkei Genkai Ice Technique. It wasn't a pretty site. I doubt I should have the same end results. And before your next question pops into your head. He's still asleep." Giving all the basic information he knew Hinata would be needing.

"Asamoya." Kokugan called out to his resting partner.

"Yes Kokugan?" Now able to sit up she answers feeling the tenderness of her body from her fight with Sakura.

"Are you ready for your next match?" He doesn't move his stare from the crater as Michiyo gets Kiba out of the tree he's tied to.

"Sorry, I'm still feeling the last match in my body." Asamoya attempts to stand up straight but was unsuccessful.

"Don't move Asamoya. I'll heal your injuries." Sakura looks at her with compassion and sets her down. "I think we should skip her match and move on to the next one. She wont be ready at this moment so I'll try to fix her up as soon as possible." Alerting Kokugan of the situation Sakura goes to work.

"Thank you Sakura." Asamoya watches as Sakura begins healing her. 'This girl is definitely something.'

"Very well then." Kokugan turns his head towards Hinata slowly.

'Oh no! It's our turn to fight. I-I don't think I can do this.' Hinata becomes panicked as she sees Kokugan stare at her.

"Hinata!" Kokugan calls out.

Taking a big gulp she answers. "Y-yes?" Her heart begins to beat irregularly.

"Your not fully well. I'll get Sakura to look at you next. As for now, rest."

Unable to speak she looks down. 'Thank you.' Hinata's heart has settled to it's normal tempo.

"Michiyo.." Kokugan calls to her as she approaches

"You'll be facing Shino now." He looks over to Shino giving him the initiative to go and start his match. "And Shino."

"Yes?" Shino stops to hear what Kokugan has to say.

"She wont be forced into fighting me. That will be a decision she'll make on her own." Kokugan informs him knowing that Shino is in hesitation about having Hinata paired up against him.

Blocking his fear for Hinata, Shino speaks with determination to Michiyo. "Let's get our match started already Michiyo."

"Yay, I'm going two for two. Lets go tall, dark, and misterious." Micihiyo gives Shino a playful but sinister look.

"Hinata." Looking at his partner run off to the field ready for her battle. "Do you want to continue with our match? You don't have to fight me. In fact if you chose so. You can quit. It wont be held against you." Kokugan speaks in a calm tone without removing his eyes off his partner.

"But.." Trying to find the words Hinata looks to Kokugan. "..but how can I prove to you that I'm not as weak as you think? All my life I was looked down on by my own father.." This grabs Kokugan's attention. "..as nothing but a weak link of our clan. He discarded me from my training with him and took in my sister instead. I don't care who I have to face, I want to prove not only to myself but my father and the Hyuuga Clan that I, Hinata Hyuuga, am not weak."

'She wishes to prove herself to her father and her clan. But the Hyuuga Clan considers her just a burden from the flaws she has that has made her, in their eyes, weak.' Glaring at Hinata, Kokugan repeats his last question. "I'll ask you one more time." He turns his glance back to the match at hand. "Do you want to continue with our match?"

Hinata with a pale expression on her face puts her head down. 'What should I do? I'm no match for him but if I quit..' A tear runs down her face falling to the ground below. '..I might as well just give up entirely on being a ninja.'


	6. Nightmare Gaze

**~Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Naruto or any character based off Naruto~**

**Here's Chapter six. Hope to see some reviews. Please enjoy.  
**

_"_" = Speech_

_'_' = Thoughts_

_:_: = Location_

Nightmare Gaze:

:Naruto's Dreams, Memories From Various Points of Time:

Alone standing in the middle of a crowd of people hidden in shadow. Naruto cries to himself as the people do not acknowledge him. They're just shadows looking down judging him, wanting nothing to do with him, hating him.

"Ew, it's that thing." Sound of a disgusted remark made from one person.

"I'm not a thing.." Naruto cried with his head buried in his arm. "..I'm Naruto Uzumaki." 'No one cares about me.' He then begins to fade into another memory.

As his fades from one memory to the next, there's nothing but pure darkness with a slight of red glow showing a sealed gate with red eyes staring from with inside that corridor. It glares over Naruto's slumped body as he grows up in front of it from each passing memory. Reappearing every time he fades from one to the next.

Now in the forest outside the confines of the Konoha Village, Naruto holds on tightly to a scroll hidding behind a tree. Naruto overhears Iruka and Mizuki's conversation.

"Why are you protecting that freak? he's the one who wiped out your hole family." Mizuki questioning Iruka's actions.

"I don't care what you say." Iruka ignores the fact.

"Don't you get it? Naruto is just like me." Mizuki tries prove Iruka's actions are useless.

"How's that?" Curious to know Mizuki's choice of words..

"He wants the scroll for his own power and his own vengeance. That's how beasts are. He'll poor all his rage into that scroll and destroy everything." Mizuki begins to explain.

"That's right." Unable to deny, Iruka agrees with Mizuki's words.

'So it's true, Iruka Sensei never believed in me. He thinks I'm some beast...some kind of freak!' He begins to cry. 'No one understands me.' Naruto fades once again.

Naruto finds himself facing Sasuke surrounded by ice mirriors. Covered badly with needles they both have their words. Then Naruto finally shouts out in anger and frustration.

"I didn't ask for this. I didn't ask for you to save me."

"I don't know. My body just moved. There was no time to think." Sasuke then collapses as Naruto saves him from hitting the ground.

"Sasuke!" Worried, Naruto calls out to him.

"Naruto. Don't let your dream die." Sasuke's life then fades away as he lays in Naruto's arms.

"Is this the first time you seen a friend die in battle?" The masked villain who appeared defeated has stood up facing Naruto. "This is part of what it means to be a ninja." He tells him without care.

"I hated you Sasuke, yet.." Unable to finish what he wanted to say. 'How can the strong fall while protecting me?' Naruto again begins to fade into another memory.

Rushing into a broken open sealed cave, they stop to look. Two Akatsuki members sit awaiting for their entry.

"We're too late." Kakashi is first to notice the disturbing sight.

Looking ahead, Naruto sees Deidara and Sasori sitting on top of Gaara's body. "You Jerk..!" Angered by the sights he begins to yell. "Where do you think your sitting?!"

Deidara begins to smile. "No doubt about it.." He looks at Naruto. "He's the Jinchuriki."

Desperately calling out to his only understanding friend. "Gaara!" He attempts to joke in hopes of a response. "What are you doing sleeping leisurely in a place like that?!" Becoming more desperate for a response he takes a step closer. "Stand up. Gaara! Hey Gaara, are you listening to me? Gaara!" He advances forward as he continues to call his name.

"That's enough, Naruto!" Kakashi stops him before he advances to far. "You should know.."

Feeling his heart ache, he's at a point where the dreams have gotten too far. 'Why must the one who understands me fall?' Fading once more he moves on to the next memory.

In the forest, Naruto and Yamato walk off to a distance away from the injured Sakura. Yamato signaling they're far enough, he motions to Naruto.

"There's something I need to tell you." Yamato takes a step closer to Naruto's right side. "The one who hurt Sakura was.." Naruto stands listening carefully. "..you. Naruto."

It hits him as he can almost feel his very heart get crushed by those words as he thinks to Sakura's severe injury. 'Why would I hurt those that I care for?' Fading away he awaits the next memory.

Pinned down by Pein's chakra rods, Naruto looks upon the battle field. Hinata is standing in between him and Pein.

"Get out of here! Your no match!" Naruto shouts concerned for her safety. "What are you doing here?!"

"I know.." Hinata begins to explain herself as she prepares to face Pein. "I used to always cry and give up… I made many wrong turns… But you… You helped me find the right path… I always chased after you… I wanted to catch up to you… I wanted to walk beside you all the time… I just wanted to be with you… You changed me! Your smile is what saved me! That is why I'm not afraid to die protecting you! Because… I love you…." Complete shock took over Naruto as she has confessed her true feelings for him.

Quickly defeated, Pein walks over to Hinata's body pulling out a chakra rod from within his sleeve. He then proceeds to stab Hinata.

"STOP!" Naruto yells as if he can almost feel himself get stabbed in his very heart. 'Why do those who care for me have to die?' He then proceeds into another memory.

Surrounded by friends, Naruto finally feels at ease. Then one by one all his friends begin to walk away from him. One by one they walk into the darkness concealing themselves, becoming shadowed figures crowded around him. Naruto begins to shrink into his younger self. All his friends from his journeys are no longer his friends. They're just shadows looking down judging him, wanting nothing to do with him, hating him.

"Ew. It's that thing." And the dreams cycle over and over, never to end.

:Back in Reality:

Hinata is sitting near Naruto's resting body, watching the final match between Asamoya and Shikamaru. The match that would be before hers. 'Do I go through with this? What should I do? I hope Naruto comes to soon. I could really use his advise. It's a good thing that Kokugan-san gave me until the time that our match should start to give him an answer.' Her mind is boggling with questions and doubts, hoping it will all be put at ease with Naruto's awakening. Then she hears something, a familiar sound, a voice, it's Naruto. 'He's awake!' She looks over with a smile but then becomes disappointed when she realizes that he's just moaning in his sleep. 'What is he dreaming about? It doesn't seem pleasant.' Holding a worried expression she's unable to turn away.

Faint words start coming out of Naruto's mouth. "Iruka Sensei..Sasuke.." Naruto is saying the names of his friends one by one.

'Those names..' Hinata looks over him. '..they're the names of his friends. People who he holds dear. There's no way he holds me as close as a friend like the rest.' She then looks down in shame.

"..Hinata.." He continues.

Surprised she looks back up at him with a slight blush. 'My name! He said my name. Oh Naruto, it looks like you do hold me as a close friend after all.'

Kokugan begins to stare at Hinata and Naruto. He then begins to notice something wrong. "Hinata!" He calls out to her. "Get away from him!" Sounding more concerned then usual.

Hinata notices that Naruto's body is leaking chakra. 'That chakra, it can't be!'

"Asamoya! Shikamaru! Your match is over. Everyone else move to the training field and get behind me." Obeying orders, no one questions and does what they're told. 'This chakra, it's the chakra from earlier. The same chakra not of his own, but the one that's stored away in his body. What is he?'

"What's going on? I was going to win." Upset, Asamoya starts becoming worried in Kokugan's change in tone.

"Actually you would've lost. I had already predicted every move. But.." Shikamaru lays down his actions that would of taken place. "..I would've given up anyways. Sense I'm not really into fighting girls."

'Aw, how cute. I think he likes me.' Thinking about herself and how Shikamaru was willing to throw the match in her favor. She then snaps back into the situation when she hears Naruto's roars.

A large amount of red chakra begins to fill the air whipping in a circular formation it cuts through what ever it comes in contact with. "Dark Technique: Chakra Drain Barrier!" Kokugan creates a large bubble of chakra and has engulfed the area protecting the group from Naruto's expelling chakra that's lashing out wildly.

As soon as Kokugan has shielded them from harm, Naruto's body raises up to it's feet. Growling and roaring into the skies, Naruto's body begins to change. Sakura knowing this change very well, she reacts. "Naruto! You need to wake up. The thing inside you is trying to take over your body!" She informs him with no success.

Hinata soon realizing what Sakura is talking about, she adds on. "P-please Naruto-kun, y-you need to stop or.." Unable to find in herself to shout at him, she continues to say. "..or you'll hurt your precious people." She turns away thinking her words had little to no effect.

Naruto then opens his eyes. "Sakura! Hinata! I can't.." Naruto lets out a scream as he falls to his knees. One of his hands grips his stomach. The other grips his chest were his heart lies. "..stop myself." He finally was able to say before letting out another roar. His red chakra begins whipping even more wildly then earlier.

'I need to think of something quick. This Barrier will only hold on for so long with that power. Even if it does drain that chakra, there's far too much and it'll kill us before he can settle down enough to control it.' Then an idea pops into Kokugan's head. He knows it's risky but it's the only thing he can think of. "Sakura! Hinata!" They both look to him. "I'm going to place you guys inside a separate barrier. I need the both of you to go over there and calm him down."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Sakura questioning his idea.

"How are you going to keep a strong enough barrier for us and the rest when your having trouble just keeping this one up?" Hinata looks at Kokugan concerned for him.

"You two seem to have an effect on him. So go to him and don't worry about me or the rest." He yells at them hoping that they would just listen. "Do it now! I can only hold these barriers for so long against that chakra." Both nod and start to head towards Naruto encased with Kokugan's barrier he made for them. 'This better work, the success of my mission lay's in their hands now.'

"N-Naruto-kun." Scared from the sight she's seeing, Hinata attempts to make contact.

"Aghhh...!" He lets out a scream, then he begins to roar at Hinata.

"Naruto, stop! Please. It's us, Sakura and Hinata." Mad at his blasting at Hinata, Sakura tries to remain cool by trying to bring him back in control over himself. "Don't you remember us? Your precious people?"

Letting out a rampage of lashing and screaming from her words Naruto appears to be fighting back for control. "Help me.." Struggling with himself Naruto continues to fight.

"Naruto-kan, you'll n-never be alone. Remember, you h-have friends who understand and c-care about you." Hoping her added words would help, Hinata stares into his eyes.

"F-friends..people who care..wh-who understand..I have all that." The red chakra begins to break apart and disperse into the air until there's nothing left. Naruto on his hands and knees trying to regain his breath. "Thank you.."

"That was close." Kiba says as he tries to calm down from the sudden event. The rest of the group nods in agreement and with confusion of what they just saw.

Releasing the barriers Kokugan walks up to Naruto and begins to speak. "I don't know what you are or care to know. But if I find myself taking you on this mission with us, rest assure if you pull that stunt again. I'll be forced to deal with you myself without hesitation!" He then proceeds back to his seat and sits down.

Asamoya runs up with questions on hand. "What was that and how did you guys stop it?" Not wanting to get too close to Naruto she keeps her distance.

"It's the Nine Tailed Fox that's sealed inside of him." Sakura explains. "It appears when he becomes emotionally distressed. The only thing we had to do was to insure him that he wasn't alone in order to calm him down."

"Emotionally distressed? How? He was put to sleep from Kokugan's nightmare gaze." Asamoya confused from what she's hearing.

"That's the reason he was emotionally distressed Asamoya." Everyone begins to look to Michiyo as she tells them the answer. "Remember how we use to train? How he would use it on us?"

"Yea, I remember" Asamoya nods.

"It causes you to remember your past, all the downs and never the ups. Then it adds the fears you have and then cycles through all of it over and over never to stop." Michiyo looks down as she remembers her experience with the nightmare gaze.

"She's right, that's what happened." Naruto responds to Michiyo, agreeing to the effects of the jutsu. "It's crazy, but it's probably the worst thing you can experience. Nothing like that has ever taken me by surprise the way this did." Naruto holds his head down as he stands up. "Hinata.."

"Yes N-Naruto-kun?" Quick to answer Hinata awaits to here what he has to say.

"So did you beat Mr. Raincoat yet?" Naruto looks up at her with a grin.

"N-no.." Hinata looks away ashamed. "Our match w-was saved for l-last, he gave me a ch-choice whether to continue or for-forfeit.."

"You better accept the challenge Hinata." Naruto cuts her off before she could finish. "Even if he's strong, you have something he doesn't." Surprised by Naruto's words she looks to him. "You have the Will of Fire!"

Nodding her head filled with confidence once again, she turns to Kokugan. "Your right Naruto-kun. I can win. Kokugan-san, I'll be seeing you on the field." She confidently walks off to the crater in front of him. 'I can do this. I have the will of fire on my side. Thank you Naruto. You have always inspired me. Now it's time to prove my worth.'

'Dam that Uzumaki!' Clenching his fists Kokugan is in deep thought. 'First he lashes out with his demon chakra and forces me to use my best defense, draining me. Then he gets the Hyuuga Princess filled with confidence. Now I have a match with the Gentle Fist Technique while I'm running low on energy.' "Ok, let's get this over with." Kokugan begins to stand and walks over to the crater before him. 'I need to do this quick, I can't afford to lose. Not like this.' Removing his shades he gets ready for his match.

"Byakugan!" Hinata ready as she'll ever be takes her stance. Her eyes are now focused on Kokugan as veins pop from the sides of her head towards her eyes as she activates her Dojutsu.

"Tekio Suru!" Kokugan takes his stance as well. Facing Hinata dead on, his eyes grow blacker then the dark itself with what appears to be black slash marks shooting down over each eye upon use of his Dojutsu.


	7. Byakugan vs Tekio Suru

**~Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Naruto or any character based off Naruto~**

**Here's Chapter seven. Hope to see some reviews. Please enjoy.  
**

_"_" = Speech_

_'_' = Thoughts_

_:_: = Location_

Byakugan versus Tekio Suru:

Both Dojutsu users stand their ground just yards away from one another. Staring into his very body, Hinata notices something. 'His chakra, it's flow seems different from earlier from when I used my byakugan to search the debris for them during Naruto's match with him. It's seems as it's layering itself upon his skin like a shield or something. But his chakra also seems drained as well from using his chakra drain barrier. Good, now I have an advantage.' She begins to charge in. "Gentle Fist!"

'No..' Agitated Kokugan realizes she's going to take advantage by making the first move a lethal one. 'I cant let her touch me with those hands!' As she has met him face to face she drops a barrage of attacks trying to make contact with his chakra points, but he's manages to dodge them all without fail.

Realizing she needs to find a way to tire him out where his reactions would slow enough to catch him slip she jumps back out of his reach. 'He's still able to move as if he been resting the whole time Naruto had lost control of himself. I got an idea.' As soon as Hinata figured out what to do next she pulls out her kunai and throws it to his side missing him hitting the ground behind him.

Dodging the kunai with ease, Kokugan looks at her puzzled. "Why would you effortlessly do such a thing? You'll need to have something more then that if you wish to beat me Hinata." Kokugan states coldly to her.

"Who said you were my target? Gentle Fist!" Hinata runs in charging once again to attack.

'What is she doing? And what does she mean I wasn't her target?' Dodging her barrage of attacks once again he flawlessly moves around. He then starts moving away from a series of strikes aimed to his right side forcing him to move towards him left, then that's when it hits him. 'I'm stuck! How?' He looks down to notice Hinata's missed kunai has pierced his robe pinning it into the ground.

'Gotcha!' "Eight Grams: Thirty-Two Palms!" Hinata unleashes on Kokugan as he's unable to maneuver out of her grasp.

"Defense Strike Barrier!" Now he begins to match her attacks with own barrage of defensive strikes. 'That was too close. I'll admit one thing. She isn't as she seems and she could be a hand full if I'm not careful.' Kokugan focusing on her and her attacks keeping a close eye on her to make sure she doesn't make any movement without him detecting it before it becomes trouble.

'Impossible!' Focused on attacking, Hinata in thought can't believe what she's seeing. 'He managed to defend himself with his defense strike and is countering all my attacks. Not only that but every counter feels like he's making a full on direct attack to every one of my attacks. My hands are starting to ache, this is been going on for awhile and I don't think I can keep it up too long.'

Naruto stares in amazement "Whow. Their attacks are so fast. Hinata's thirty-two palms is being deflected easily." Naruto begins to worry as he looks on.

"Kokugan sure is good when it comes to pulling something out of his sleeve." Sakura states.

"I wouldn't doubt it." Shikamaru adds on. "From what I've seen, his jutsus are mainly defensive, he really isn't offensive. It appears he has what he needs to counter anything that's sent at him. It's no wonder when Naruto lost control he demanded that we stand behind him. He's just a walking fortress and we still don't know what his Dojutsu does."

'His Dojutsu isn't something you see. But by the time this is over, if this girl really is good, then Kokugan will have the Gentle Fist added to his Tekio Suru Dojutsu.' Michiyo looks on with a devious grin.

'I can't break free over this girl.' Kokugan begins to worry. 'She isn't letting up and I can't make time to make any hand signs to perform my nightmare gaze. I must out last her seeing she's the one who controls the match for now.' "Hinata." Breaking the silence between the two. "Why do you wish to continue? This isn't going anywhere." Trying to break her focus he begins to ask her questions.

'Why?' In her mind she repeats the question. "Because I wish to prove that I am not weak." Hinata shoots her answer back him.

"And who is this person you wish to prove? It's obviously not Naruto or your friends. As I can tell they think you can actually win." Kokugan says the last few words coldly.

"I'm a Hyuuga. The first born to the head house of our clan. My father trained me from the moment I could walk. Soon after my father discarded me deeming me unworthy." This caused Kokugan to slip and miss one of her strikes. Hinata shoots her hand past his missed matched counter attack and strikes a chakra point in his right shoulder. Ripping his robe from the kunai, Kokugan is pushed back from the hit finally finishing the prolonged confrontation.

'Dammit! How could I let up my guard like that?' Kokugan holds his shoulder in pain. 'Doesn't matter. Now my dojutsu can take effect, I just need time to recover from the attack in order for the full effect to work. Which means I need to keep her from hitting me again.' "Chakra Barrier Jutsu!" Kokugan is now encased in his own barrier protecting him from Hinata's attacks.

"I'm not letting you get away that easy. Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm!" Hinata thrusts her hands forward releasing a great force of chakra into Kokugan's barrier. Then something unexpected happens and everyone notices.

"No way!" Surprised at what she's seeing Asamoya leans forward. "How did she break his barrier? No one has ever broken one of Kokugan's barriers!"

"She's using her Byakugan to detect it's weakest points. No matter how strong a barrier is, there's always a weak spot and sense it's made of chakra, she has no problem in bypassing it with her jutsu." Shino explains Hinata's feat by observation.

'This can't be, I'm haven't recovered enough to withstand more of her attacks.' Kokugan quickly begin to make hand signs. "Chakra Overload Strike!" He launches forward at Hinata with his left hand.

'Oh no, I need to avoid his attack. Last time he used it, he blow up Naruto's Rasengen and caused him to fall back severely damaged.' She starts using her mobility to dodge every one of his attempts to hit her. Slowly she backs out of his reach. "Protection of the Eight Trigrams: Sixty-Four Palms!" Kokugan continues to move in getting struck by her sixty-four palms.

'What the hell is that? It looks like my chakra strike barrier but far more developed. This is starting to become a pain. Time for my next trick.' Smiling with an impure grin under his mask Kokugan stands outside her protection zone. "Chakra Needle Jutsu!"

'No!' Hinata realizing what's about to happen she attempts to end her jutsu before it's too late.

"Too late. Your best defense is now your last technique you'll use." Confidently Kokugan looks at Hinanta as her chakra takes shape. One hundred chakra needles hover all around her shaping and directing themselves towards her.

"Hinata! Get out of there now!" Naruto shouts at her knowing exactly what's about to happen.

"Hurry Hinata! You seen what happened to Naruto the last time he did that. It was game over and he'll end this the same way if you don't move." Kiba instructs her.

"She can't run away from it." Naruto and Kiba who are the furthest to be leaning towards the field look to Asamoya. "Trust me, I thought I could escape it once and it just proved useless. That's her chakra, and it will return to her, but it'll have a devastating effect. She can't avoid reuniting with what's hers." She says proudly watching over the match.

'I must deflect the attack, but if I use my protection eight trigrams he'll just make it worse and add on to the current jutsu making it even more impossible to avoid. I'll just have to try and dodge as many as I can.' Finally the needles have finished taking form.

"Hinata." Kokugan calls to her.

She looks at him wondering why he's pausing to call her name. "Y-yes?" Hinata softly asks with hesitation.

"I can cancel the attack and let you go unharmed. Do you wish me to? If you don't it'll end either way and it's not going to be pretty." Kokugan warns her.

'Why is he taking it easy on her? It can't be he likes her. There's something I don't know about.' Michiyo watches in anticipation.

"Naruto. I think we should convince Hinata to accept his terms." Sakura looks to Naruto hoping he would agree.

"No! Even if she can't dodge the attack, she can still win. Didn't you see he's not himself like when he faced me." He turns his attention from Sakura to Hinata and starts to shout. "He's scared and he's using this to weasel his way out of getting beat. Hinata! Don't let this guy play with your head. He's scared and he doesn't want you to think straight by making it look like it's at it's worst. Don't give into him!" Naruto attempting to revive Hinata's confidence.

'He's right. He's scared, why else would he be delaying his attack?' Hinata takes her stance. "Bring it! I will beat you and never give up til I do because.." Hinata shooting a glare at Kokugan with intensity. "..I never go back on my word, that is my nindo, my ninja way!"

'Dammit, I can't keep to my own word if you wont back down.' Kokugan now realizing he has no choice. "So be it." All one hundred chakra needles take aim and shoot at Hinata.

"AH!" Hinata feeling immense pain as her own chakra reenters her body as she falls to her hands and knees. 'I can do this. This isn't anything. I can win.' She begins to stand back up to face Kokugan.

"Yeah!" Kiba shouts as if she just declared victory.

"Go Hinata. We're right behind you." Sakura shouts in support.

"You can beat him!" Naruto insures her.

'Dammit Hinata. Stop trying to act like your strong. You can't win.' Aggravated Kokugan comes up with a new plan. "Dark Technique: Chakra Drain Barrier!"

'He's hiding again. Good. Naruto was right. He's weak and he can't take anymore. I can win.' With confidence restored Hinata moves in towards Kokugan. "Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm!" She unleashes her massive chakra attack into his shield. 'I got him!' Her attack causing debris to kick up around the barrier on impact. Slowly it resides and then she sees what her efforts had brought to her.

"What? It didn't work." Sakura said disappointed that her attack didn't work twice to bring down Kokugan's defenses.

"She's not going to break this barrier with pure chakra." Michiyo tells Sakura. "This is the more advance barrier that absorbs chakra on contact. Why do you think he used it when Naruto had his freakout from nightmare gaze?"

'I can't take another hit. I haven't recovered enough from the first attack for my dojutsu to take effect. I just need to delay her long enough and hope she doesn't break this barrier as well.' Kokugan knowing his chakra is running low, too low to keep his barrier at full strength against another heavy well executed attack.

'It didn't work. This barrier is far stronger. Maybe that's why he used this against Naruto's Fox Demon chakra. I need to look for a weakness and attack there.' Hinata jumps back far enough to view the whole barrier with her byakugan. 'Found it.' "Gentle Step Twin Lion Fists!" She charges forward and begins assault the barrier. After striking the barrier a few times with her twin lions, something becomes noticeable. 'My twin lions are fading, why?' Taking notice that her hands are becoming more and more visible within the chakra that they're encased in after each hit she makes.

"Your chakra will be absorbed as you make contact Hinata." Kokugan giving Hinata a heads up as he notices her twin lions fade. "It's best to just to do nothing while I'm inside this barrier. You can't touch me."

Restrengthening her twin lions she darts in to a weak point she found. "Guess again Kokugan-san!" She sends her hands through his barrier as she attacks it dead on the weak spot.

'No! she found a way in.' Kokugan jumping back quickly as she has just broken his best defense.

"Now it's over!" Kiba shouts in excitement.

"Oh yea, good night Mr. Raincoat. Hope you enjoyed your journey here." Naruto giving a big grin.

'No. This girl can't win. There's no way.' Looking to Michiyo with concern Asamoya feels a chill go down her spine.

'Kokugan. I know you can win. Please, you suffered too much for too long to let someone like this girl beat you. You have to..No, you must win.' Michiyo focused on the field hoping for the best.

"Gentle Fist!" Hinata jumps after Kokugan and makes a final move hoping to make contact.

"You wont win!" Kokugan now furious as she approaches. "Dark Technique: Cha.." cut off Hinata has already made it to him.

"Your done!" Hinata shouts as she thrusts her right hand forward into his chest. Then something stops her. Kokugan caught her attack by grabbing her wrist. Now at a stand off as she forces her hand to his chest and he holds her back by mere inches. "Palm Bottom!" Using her left hand she bypasses his grip on her right wrist shifting all her weight from one hand to the other and strikes him dead on in his chest. Smiling she says to herself. 'Got him!'


	8. The Journey Begins

**~Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Naruto or any character based off Naruto~**

**Here's Chapter seven. Hope to see some reviews. Please enjoy.  
**

_"_" = Speech_

_'_' = Thoughts_

_:_: = Location_

The Journey Begins:

Thrusting her left palm into his chest Hinata pushes Kokugan back. His body is sent back but it doesn't go far. His grip around Hinata's right wrist allows him to keep himself from flying into the trees behind him. 'He's still holding on. I'm practically out of chakra now. Got to shake him off and end this.' Hinata desperate she begins to move away from Kokugan's slumped body. As she pulled away she notices she is stuck in his grip. 'No! This can't be.' Worried Hinata begins to struggle.

"Dark Technique:.." Kokugan stands up quickly. Grabs Hinata's face and stares into her eyes.

"This looks bad." Sakura watches over holding her hands over her face.

"This match is done." Michiyo says with a grin.

:Moments from Night Before and Early Afternoon:

-Early Afternoon:

"I-I'll chose Ko-Kokugan-san as well" Hinata stutters out. "Come on, this is a test an-and I wish to sh-show that I am m-more then capable."

-Night Before:

"She may be a Hyuuga but she's weak. There's a chance she'll even be a burden to you."

-Early Afternoon:

"You know you don't have to take this guy right?" Concerned for Hinata Naruto attempts to change her mind. "He seems to be really strong, wouldn't you prefer one of the others?"

-Night Before:

"Her caring and kindness is a flaw to the Hyuuga Clan that will force me to relieve her of her title and hand it down to her sister."

-Early Afternoon:

"No!" Hinata shouts "I m-mean, no N-Naruto-kun. If I can't prove this guy that I'm am able to do anything and surpass his expectations of me, then what good am I really? I might as well go home now like he said if I can't show that I too like everyone here has what it takes."

-Night Before:

"Your clan is the best at what they do, so I expect you to do what you were trained to do."

-Early Afternoon:

"Your right Hinata." Naruto said proudly."You should show this hard ass how strong you really are. Then He'll think twice about insulting us like that again."

:Present:

'Why do I have this weird feeling? It's something I've never felt before. Why? Could it be remorse?' Kokugan holds Hinata staring at her for what feels like hours continues to stare. 'These thoughts are running through my head a hundred times over. I need to end this now. I can't think straight with this girl near me.'

'What is he doing? He's just holding my face close to his. I can see something isn't right in his eyes. Something is tearing at him from the inside. But what could it be for someone like him to have such spite, anger, and an emptiness in his eyes? Is this why he chooses to keep his face hidden? To hide his true self?' Hinata's thoughts racing through her head as Kokugan has his grip on her all in matter of just a few seconds before Kokugan reacts.

Performing new hand signs on the sides of Hinata's face. "Sleep Gaze." Hinata's body goes limp in front of Kokugan. He proceeds to pick her up and carry her off the field. "Take her." Looking to Sakura and Ino demanding they take her. "I need to be alone."

"Kokugan, wait!" Michiyo tries to catch up as he leaves. She grabs his arm in hopes to talk to him.

"I told you to leave me alone!" Kokugan shouts in rage. He then proceeds on jumping out of sight.

Falling back, Michiyo's high spirited character breaks down. "I'm sorry.." Crying with her hands over her eyes. '..I just wanted to know what happened.'

"What's going on Asamoya?" Naruto concerned about Michiyo's well being. "Why is Kokugan acting so different all of a sudden?"

"I don't know Naruto." Looking towards Michiyo with sympathy as she sits in the middle the training field exit. "All I know it's not a good idea to approach him. When he's ready, he'll let us know." Her head drops as she becomes concerned for what's wrong with Kokugan.

"Sakura." Holding Hinata from her left side. "Let's get Hinata home so she can rest." Ino looks to Asamoya seeing she's the only Claw ninja who hasn't fallen apart. "Is it ok for us to leave? Some of us are still worn from the matches and Hinata is going to be out for the rest of the day."

Asamoya directs her attention to the three Konoha girls. "Yes, and don't worry about the qualified mission candidates. It'll be taken care of by the morning and all of who qualified will be personally summoned by one of us."

"Ino.." Sakura calls to her. "..let's get Hinata home quickly." Ino nods to her. They take off towards the direction of the Hyuuga mansion. As for the rest of the rookie nine, they take their leave and head home.

:Later That Evening:

Still sad about the event earlier Michiyo lays on the couch of the house provided for the Claw Ninja's stay. Asamoya watching her with concern begins to run questions to herself. 'Why would Kokugan just leave like that? How come he used sleep gaze on Hinata? It's not like he likes her or something. It's obvious that Hinata, second to Naruto is Kokugan's most undesired candidate. And why did he have to yell at Michiyo? Poor girl.'

Sniffling, Michiyo sits up on the couch. "Asamoya.." Giving her attention, Asamoya looks at her to listen. "What happened today? I know Kokugan has done this before but with different reason and it's never changed. But today, it's different. Why?"

Unable to give her an explanation Asamoya looks down. "I don't know, I just don't..." All of a sudden her and Michiyo hear someone at the door. They both get up and get prepared to attack.

The door opens and Kokugan walks in. "Good evening." Much calmer then earlier Kokugan greets them upon entry. The two of them relieved it's only their teammate stand at ease. "I think it's time to go over our candidates. We need.."

"I think it's time that you tell us what's goin on with you Kokugan!" Demanding as she interrupts Kokugan, Michiyo is almost in his face with an annoyed expression.

"This isn't the time and place to.." Once again Kokugan gets interrupted.

"This is the perfect time and place!" Michiyo explodes. "Your goin to tell me what the hell is.." Now Michiyo is the one to be interrupted.

"Shut your damn mouth!" Now agitated by Michiyo's sudden outburst he removes his shades and glares into her eyes. "You will know what I want to you know and only when I want to know it. Do I make myself clear?!" He locks eye contact with her as she begins to settle down from her sudden rage.

"Yes sir." She speaks faintly as his facial expression begins to settle. "It's just I never seen you overwhelmed in a match like you were today. I just wanted to know what happened." Michiyo's eyes begin to fill with tears as she looks down.

Kokugan removes his glove off his right hand and brings it to her chin pushing it up so he can see her eyes. "I'll tell you one thing. These are definitely the people we need and even with that said, there's things that will reveal itself in due time." Moving back onto subject, he lets go of Michiyo's chin, going to the table where the paperwork of each candidate sits. "Ok, I'll be getting this one. Asamoya."

"Yes Kokugan." Asamoya stands ready to receive her orders.

"You're going to get this person. We can use someone like that. I'd figure you'd be the best person to inform their worthy." Kokugan hands Asamoya the file.

"I'm all over it." Asamoya looks at the candidate's file with a smile. 'I guess you made it didn't you.'

"Michiyo." Kokugan looks to her with a file in hand. "You have to inform probably the one candidate I wish I didn't need. Can you do that for me?" Holding the file in front of her he waits for her answer.

"But why this candidate? Isn't.." Michiyo unable to finish.

"Yes, I know. But compared to the rest. It's possibly the best choice there is." Hesitating about his choice. He dismisses them. The three ninja's take off to recruit their candidates for the mission.

:Outside The Door of a Candidate's Residence:

Knocking gently but load enough to be heard Asamoya stands with a grand smile. 'Kokugan must of thought highly of this person to recruit them.' Still standing at the door with no answer, she knocks again but loader.

"I'm coming, I'm coming." Shouts a voice from inside the residence. The door opens and greets Asamoya with surprise. "Oh, hey Asamoya. Sorry I just got out of the shower and barely heard the door."

"It's ok Sakura. I just came by with your next mission. You'll be expected to be at the main gate by sunrise." Smiling to Sakura, Asamoya is glad that her fierce opponent from earlier is going to accompany them back to the Land of Claw.

"I'll be there." Sakura giving her an assuring grin.

"Good, I'll be seeing you then." Asamoya takes her leave.

:Outside a Window on a Balcony:

Michiyo looks through the sliding window. 'Where is he? Man this kid is a mess. Look at all that food just laying around. Well, it appears that mess had food.'

"HEY!" Popping into view shouting at the possible intruder.

"AHH!" Michiyo screams almost falling off the balcony. "AHH! Help!"

"Oh I'm sorry, I didn't know it was you." Grabbing her arm before she fell. He brings her inside from the balcony. "Um, so why are you here?"

Regaining her breath. "Thank you.." She stands up to look at him. "The reason I'm here.." She looks to him. "..wasn't to get a heart attack!" Michiyo yells the last few words causing him to nearly fall backwards. "Now Naruto, the reason I'm here is because of all the candidates.." Taking a deep breath. "..I really don't know why, but Kokugan actually wanted you to join us."

"Yeah! I knew Mr. Raincoat would think twice about thinking I was weak." Naruto yells in excitement.

"Too bad he still doesn't like you." Smiling with a silly grin. As she's just about to leave, she walks into the corner of Naruto's bed causing her to trip and face plant the wall. "Ouch! Who the hell puts their bed near the window like that?" Rubbing her face she gets up and proceeds to the window to leave.

"Who comes through a window in the middle of the night to give missions?" Naruto shoots back.

"Well at least Kokugan doesn't hate me and thinks that I'm actually strong." With her head held high she turns away from him standing on the window seal.

"Hey, I'm not weak!" Naruto now upset from her choice of words.

"Don't be late.." She smiles with a wink as she takes off and then shouts back before she disappears into the distance. "..weakling!" She giggles.

"I'M NOT WEAK!" Naruto shouts into the night with no one to hear him yell.

:Hyuuga Mansion:

"My apologies about Hinata's well being. I couldn't let the others suspect anything." Down to one knee. "Hinata's determination to fight was strong. I did the best I could to prevent her from getting hurt meanwhile." Kokugan keeping his head lowered to the Shadowed figure from the other night.

"That girl always had a problem with giving up no matter how weak she is. Ever sense her first chunin exam she just doesn't know how to give up." The Shadowed figure spoke annoyed of Hinata's stubbornness. "Ok, I'll inform her of your pres.." Cut off by the sound of a voice behind him the shadowed figure turns around.

"Father? Why are you up so late?" She looks over to notice a dark figure cloaked in black robes. "Who is this father?" Hinata begins to question Hiashi.

"Hello Princess." Standing up and giving a curtsy bow to Hinata. "I just came by to inform you of your mission tomorrow." Kokugan then looks up to her.

"K-Kokugan-san..!" Surprised, Hinata steps back.

"Don't worry Hinata, he's here on professional business and you will be accompanying him back to the Land of Claw for your mission." Hiashi informs her.

"Yes father. I look forward to it." Hinata bows to her father and walks off.

"I'll be taking my leave." Bowing to Hiashi he turns around to leave. He's then prevented to leap off when his movement is caught by Hiashi's voice.

"Remember! Nothing happens to her. She maybe a Hyuuge, but she's nothing but a weak link." Hiashi declares with a heavy tone of disappointment.

'Weak? But she..' Putting thoughts aside. "Don't worry sir. This mission you granted me will go without fail." Kokugan takes his leave into the night.

:Early Morning at the Konoha Main Gate:

"Hinata." Surprised, Sakura walks up to her. "Looks like they liked your performance." Giving Hinata a big smile.

"It seems so." Unsure if the selection was forced or made by Kokugan himself. Hinata kept thinking about what business he had with her father.

"By the way." Sakura seemed to have something cross her mind. "Do you have any idea who's going to be the third choice for this mission?"

"Actually I haven't." Hinata's only thoughts were about Kokugan and her father sense last night until now. 'Hopefully there might be a chance they chose Naruto-kun but with the tension between him and Kokugan-san, there's a chance he didn't get picked.'

"Sakura! Hinata!" Shouting in the distance Naruto appears. "Hey. It looks like you guys got picked as well." Hinata and Sakura both nod. With a big grin he's happy to see the two. "Well it looks like all we're waiting for is the Claw Ninjas."

'So he did get picked.' Hinata now excited that her inspirational companion will be joining her.

"And not a moment too soon." Sakura perked up sees the three ninja coming there way.

"Good morning guys!" Michiyo yells with excitement. "I'm so glad we're finally going back home and we can finally start this mission already." Holding a big grin as she walks side by side with Asamoya and behind Kokgan.

"

"Speaking of mission.." Naruto begins to ponder. "..what kind of mission is this?"

"Well it's a security mission. The details are sketchy." Asamoya answers. "As far as we know, we're going to protect a sick person of the head house of the Hanketsu clan."

Hinata with a slight interest in what she just heard. "What's wrong?" Looking to Kokugan hoping he would answer.

"It's a common disease among my clan." He explains.

"So why get help from the outside now?" Naruto shoots back with confusion. "If it's so common, then what's the urgency?"

"It's because, well Hinata will understand this better." Kokugan looks at Hinata. "Your eyes are valuable are they not?"

"Yes, people have attempted to kidnap me before just for my byakugan." Hinata drops her head from the memories.

"Well my clan, the Hanketsu Clan, has the same problem." Hinata looks back up to Kokugan as he spoke. "The reason we need help now is because even though this disease is common in our clan, it's also been many generations sense the head house has given a born child with the illness them self."

"I see, your eyes are safe if you die or get captured because your outside the main branch, but if the head house child were to die or be captured, their eyes would still hold value." Hinata realizing the situation.

"Correct." Kokugan nods to her understanding. "Now for the reason I chose you three over the eight candidates we had."

"Actually I was wondering why you decided to chose us in particular." Sakura looked on.

"Well Sakura. Your healing, even though it might not be enough, could help the sick person." Kokugan explains. Sakura nodding with a smile. "Hinata, I need you as our surveillance. My ability to sense chakra is limited compared to your Byakugan."

"Thank you." Smiling, Hinata feels assured that Kokugan didn't chose her by the force of her father's will.

"And finally.." Michiyo says as she begins to drum roll for her partner.

"..Naruto." Naruto looks with a big grin and his hand behind his head as he's prepared to hear Kokugan's reason he chose him. "I just don't like you." He states coldly breaking Naruto's expression.

"What! Then why the hell did you choose me?!" Upset at Kokugan's statement Naruto yells.

"Because you of anyone have the ability to change the outcome of a bad situation. But your ignorance says otherwise. Even though.." Kokugan walks to the Konoha gate as if he's about to leave. "..your words do hold a powerful grasp upon people, allowing them to push them self further then humanly possible. Sometimes that's a weapon in itself." Hearing his reason, Naruto's big grin resurfaces with a slight blush over his power of speech. "Ok, we spent too much time. The sun is up and we need to get to the Land of Claw as soon as possible."

"Right!" Simultaneously agreeing, all five ninjas behind Kokugan begin to follow.


	9. The Beginning of the Six Day Journey

**~Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Naruto or any character based off Naruto~**

**Here's Chapter seven. Hope to see some reviews. Please enjoy.  
**

_"_" = Speech_

_'_' = Thoughts_

_:_: = Location_

The Beginning of Our Six Day Journey:

"Come on people. It's a six day trip to the Land of Claw." He shouts back. Kokugan leads the group through the forest trees. "It's take two days to reach the seaport and four days to cross over the waters. The fith day you will be blind folded due to the secrecy of our land's location. It's quite delicate information we try keeping under wraps."

"Why is it so secret?" Naruto asks being the only one to match Kokugan's moving speed.

"Because.." Michiyo trying to speak as she's beginning to tire. "..we wish..to avoid.. detection..by.."

"..by the other counties." Finishing Michiyo's prolonged answer. Kokugan looks back at Michiyo and brings everyone to a halt. "We'll rest here. No point in wearing you guys out. I'll go for food."

"Ok..Kokugan.." Michiyo slumps down on the ground beneath her regaining her composure.

"Man, today really isn't your day." Asamoya looks at her shaking her head.

"Well we were traveling quite fast." Sakura defends Michiyo's unusual low energy. "Maybe she didn't sleep well last night."

"Hey, Kokugan." Naruto calls out.

"What do you want?" Timid from hearing Naruto's voice Kokugan doesn't turn his head.

"I'll gather food with you." Naruto said with a grin. "I know these parts so I have an idea on where to look for food."

"Fine." Kokugan sighs from a quick defeat in his attempts to be alone in thought.

'I don't if it's a good idea for Naruto-kun and Kokugan-san to be alone. They barely like each other. I hope nothing happens with them while we wait for their return.' Hinata worried in deep thought. Then she turns to Asamoya remembering something. "Asamoya-san?" She speaks in a low nervous tone.

"Yes Hinata?" Asamoya looks up to Hinata as she's approached.

"Um, about yesterday." Almost unable to talk Hinata forces herself to speak. "W-what jutsu did Kokugan-san use?"

"Jutsu?" Asamoya lost in confusion.

"Yes, the one he used to.." Hinata hesitates as she admits her defeat. "..beat me."

"Yeah, I saw that jutsu. It looked like nightmare gaze." Sakura said.

"No, it wasn't. He used a different jutsu." Hinata exclaimed.

"It was sleep gaze." Grabbing the attention of the two. Asamoya begins to explain. "That's his pre-evolved nightmare gaze."

"It's a jutsu Asamoya or I never seen him use often." Michiyo adds on as she looks down.

"What do you mean never seen him use it often?" Sakura stands up with confusion and worry.

"Does that mean something bad happened when I passed out?" Hinata grew even more worried.

"No Hinata. It's actually a harmless jutsu." Michiyo brings both Konoha ninjas into a lost expression. "He's never been the gentle type to use anything less then pure aggression when he fights."

"You mean he took it easy on Hinata?" Sakura feeling offended for Hinata's being.

"Actually, Hinata put him through a loop. I almost believed myself Hinata would win." Asamoya admits.

'So I really did almost win. But using sleep gaze meant he also took it easy on me. I was wondering why my dreams that evening seemed so settle. What does this all mean?' Taking in everything Hinata asks one more thing. "What business do you guys have with the Hyuuga Clan?"

Everyone looks to Hinata lost in her words. "What do you mean?" Michiyo first to respond.

"Last night Kokugan-san.." Hinata remembering the previous night. "..before I walked in on them, was having a long discussion with my father. As soon as I made my presence known, they immediately changed the subject."

"I'm sorry Hinata but I really have no idea what your talking about." Letting Hinata down with an answer that didn't satisfy her need to know. Asamoya puts her hand on Hinata's shoulder. "Look, Kokugan will let everyone know when he believes the time is right. That's just how he is and always been." She then takes notice their food gatherers have returned. "Speaking of the devil, he's back and looks like he got some tasty snacks."

"Eat up." Kokugan hands over the armful of food to Asamoya. "After your done, store the rest and we head out. Only a few hours left before the sun sets and I want to cover as much ground as possible." Kokugan faces the direction of their destination with his back to the group.

"You got it Mr. Raincoat." Speaking with his mouth full Naruto devours what's in front of him as he walks behind Kokugan.

"Naruto." Upset at Naruto's manners. "Your eating around women. At least wait until you finish what's in your mouth before you speak." Sakura frustrated from Naruto's gluteness look.

Back on the move after regaining their energy, the sun is starting to set. Kokugan once again bringing the group to a halt. "We camp here tonight. Naruto." He looks to Naruto with orders.

"Yeah?" Naruto looks to him.

"Call me Mr. Raincoat one more time during this mission and see if you ever have a good night's sleep again." Kokugan glares at Naruto with his head tilted forward so his glasses drop low enough to reveal his eyes.

"Oh, ok." Nervous from the threat and deathly stare, Naruto steps back in attempts to get out his Kokugan's view. "I wont say call you that anymore, sorry." Giving him a panicked and forceful smile.

"Good. Now if you can gather wood for the fire. You girls can set up the tents." Kokugan turns around and begins to walk off.

"And what are you going to do?" Sakura demands.

"I need to be alone. Do not follow me or else." Just before Kokugan leaps off. "That's no threat." Gone just like that the others begin to shudder in fear.

"Man that guy is scary." Naruto bringing himself together. "What do you think he does when he's alone like that?"

"He trains." Michiyo speaks as she takes out a tent to put up. "When he has stuff on his mind he goes off somewhere to train in solitude. He's been like that for as long as I known him." 'And I've known him almost all his life.'

"It's best to heed his warning Naruto. Don't try confronting him now." Asamoya giving him a smile. "Plus it's getting cold and we need fire. So if you can?"

"Oh yea, firewood. I'm on it." Naruto returns Asamoya's grin with one of his own.

Gathered around the fire. Finishing the last few bites of their meal the group is satisfied. Finally breaking the silence Michiyo speaks.

"Sakura." Michiyo lays back to relax.

"Yes Michiyo?" Sakura staring at the fire responds.

"You make really yummie food." Grinning at her. Michiyo puts a hand over her stomach. "I haven't had a meal like that while traveling, ever."

"Thanks Michiyo." Grinning Sakura takes in the complement. "It appears you boys were hungry." Sakura looking an Naruto and Kokugan as they had about a dozen empty bowls each next them. "Do you like it Kokugan?"

Upon hearing Sakura's question Kokugan pauses his eating. Giving her a death glare he replies. "Don't bother me, I'm eating." Just like that he returns to his bowl. Sakura sits there stunned.

"I think I should've warned you about talking to him while he eats or trains." Michiyo looking apologetic. "It's nothing against you. Him eating that much of your food is his way of saying thank you and that it was good."

"Oh, ok." Sakura feeling easier then a second ago. "Well he can help himself to more if he wishes then." Sakura giving Michiyo a smile before getting up and heading to a tent. "I think I'm going to sleep now."

"I'm coming with you Sakura. This journey back is going to require a lot of rest." Following Sakura into the tent, Asamoya turns around. "Michiyo."

"Yea?" Michiyo looks over to Asamoya from watching Kokugan eat as she smiled.

"Come to bed. You didn't sleep very well last night." 'I wouldn't blame her after that fight she had with Kokugan, poor girl.' Asamoya looks to her.

"Fine." Michiyo gets up from her seat. "You better not sleep walk again. Last night you kicked me in your sleep doing that. Lucky I didn't just throw you into a cold shower while you were still in your PJs." Holding her head high she walks past Asamoya not giving her a glance as she enters the tent.

Asamoya rolls her eyes as Michiyo goes inside. "Lets go." 'I guess it was my fault then, ops.' She then looks to Hinata. "Hinata."

"Huh?" Hinata lost in thought notices her name being called. "Did you call me Asamoya-san?"

Asamoya gives a small giggle. "Yea I did. I just wanted to know if you were coming to bed?"

"Oh, yea. I'll be there in a moment." Hinata gets up and just before she walks to the tent she looks at the two guys still eating. "Good night N-Naruto-kan.." Dropping her voice. "..night Kokugan-san." She turns and proceeds to the tent.

Finally finishing he last bowl of food, Naruto stacks his bowl amongst the other bowls he had placed next to him. "Oh man that was some good stuff." Giving Kokugan a big dopy grin. He gets snarled at by him. "Ops sorry, forgot you'll not the talking type while eating." Naruto moves just a bit as he avoids the death glare. "Well, time to knock out." Naruto walks off to the guys' tent that sits across the fire from the girls' tent.

'Finally. Peace and quite. Now for a little late night training.' Kokugan gets up from his placing around the fire. Deep in the forest far enough to lose sight of the camp he begins his training. Doing his usual, using his chakra clones to attack him with unique eye shaped daggers in a three way free for all match up. Doing this helps him with his reaction time so he can dodge attacks increasing his evasion and learn to counter the incoming attacks faster. He then senses someone else is around watching him causing him to cease. "Come out of hiding. I can sense your chakra and I know exactly where you are." He disperses his clones and waits.

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't m-mean to intrude." Coming into view, Hinata is frantic and scared. "I'll go b-back to the camp now, s-sorry." She turns around and begins to walk off.

"Wait." Kokugan calls to her before she leaves.

"Huh?. I m-mean yes?" Hinata's heart begins to pump fast.

"Come here. I want to know something." Kokugan directs her to a small stone nearby for her to sit on.

"Ok." Hinata walks over to the stone as her heart begins to pump faster and faster the closer she got to him. "W-what is it you w-wish to know?" She stares at his hidden face as he glares into nothingness.

"In our match.." Kokugan reminding her about the previous day. "..when I asked you who were you trying to prove yourself too. Your response was to your father." He then turns his stare to her. "Why?" Dropping his head a bit he turns his stare away from her to avoid eye contact. "Why would try to prove yourself to him when he only thinks very little of you?"

Hinata noticing his change of voice as it goes from dominating to concern. 'So I was right, something is wrong with him. I sensed it that very moment we locked eyes before he used his sleep gaze. It appears it's only when I'm around.' Satisfying his request she answers as she looks away from him. "My Father is a well respected person of my clan. He should be sense he's the leader. When I was born the whole clan looked to me to take over when it was the right time. Soon after I was of age to begin my training my father took notice that I was flawed. I lacked what was considered needed to be worthy of taking over the responsibilities of clan leader. He then decided to train my sister instead and deemed me a lost cause. I just want to show him I'm not lost anymore and that I am indeed a lot stronger then he thinks." She looks back up and takes notice of him looking back at her after she had finished answering his question. She noticed his eyes, even in the dark they were somehow visible and glared lighting off of them. "Kokugan-san..?" Hinata stands up to view his face even closer.

"So that's it?" Kokugan moves back turning his head away avoiding eye contact once again.

"Yea, I g-guess so. It's j-just.." Unsure how to continue Hinata builds the nerve to ask him a question. "..did something happen to you?"

"It's time for us to head back to camp. Only a few hours left before the sun rises." Kokugan informs her ignoring her question. "I'll walk you to your tent, after that. You need to sleep." He motions to her to walk at his side.

"Ok." Hinata says gently. 'Why did he avoid my question? There's something deep about him that no one obviously knows. Something is wrong with him and it seems unknown why to anyone.' Back at the camp site Hinata steps into her tent. She looks back before going in. "G-goodnight Kokugan-san."

Looking at her with no intent of speaking Kokugan then turns away as she enters her tent and walks towards his own. He then speaks under his breath. "Night, Hinata."


	10. Secrets and Stories

**~Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Naruto or any character based off Naruto~**

**Here's Chapter te****n**. Hope you enjoy.  


_"_" = Speech_

_'_' = Thoughts_

_:_: = Location_

Secrets and Stories:

Day two of the journey back to the Land of Claw the group continues through the forest trees. Michiyo who's now fully rested is attempting to catch Kokugan's and Naruto's speed. Slowly she pulls up between them and gives Naruto a big smile. Naruto gives her a smile of his own in return. Silent the group kept moving, then Michiyo advanced closer to Kokugan.

"Hey, Kokugan." Michiyo whispered trying to keep Naruto who is close by from hearing.

"Yes?" Kokugan doesn't look to her as he waits for her to speak.

"I know this might not be the place and time, but what's goin on with you lately?" Michiyo with concern as she asks her question. "From what I noticed, you haven't been the same sence your match with Hinata."

Kokugan turns his head towards Michiyo as she spoke Hinata's name. "Time to rest!" He shouts. Bringing to group to a stop Kokugan adds on. "We're close to the seaport. We're going to need some fresh food that cost too much to get at the port's marketplace. So please scavenge some delectables for the trip."

"You got it!" Naruto speaks with enthusiasm. He heads into a direction in which he knows there would be some fresh food to get.

"You can count on us Kokugan." Sakura nodding her head she then looks to Hinata. "Hinata, come with me and help gather some stuff for the trip."

"Sure thing Sakura-san." Hinata agrees to the request and heads off into the forest.

"Well what should we do?" Asamoya looks to Kokugan hoping for an answer. "Michiyo and I don't know these parts, I don't think you know them well either. So what are we to do while we wait?"

"I smelt mint plants not too far back." Kokugan looks into the direction of the location. "You do get seasick don't you Asamoya?"

"Eh, ha. Kinda." With a big grin on her face Asamoya puts one hand behind her head and faintly laughs. "I guess I'll get the mint." Her face becomes determined. "Don't leave without me, I'll be back before you can say seasick."

"Seasick." Michiyo looks at Asamoya with a silly grin.

"Ha Ha, very funny Michiyo." Asamoya then leaps off in search of the mint.

Giggling to herself as Asamoya heads out Michiyo then turns her attention to Kokugan. "So, do you want to talk about you and Hinata?" She boldly asks.

"What about her?" Kokugan speaks coldly.

"First she almost beats you, then you use your sleep gaze on her, after that you storm off when the match is over, and.." Michiyo takes a deep breath to speak louder, "..You were out all night with her last night!" Kokugan looks to her in shock. "There I said it."

"How would you know I was up with her last night when you should have been asleep?" Kokugan voice goes from a slight panic to a really agitated tone as he spoke.

"Well a girl's got to go when a girl's got to go." Michiyo embarrassed from what she just told him, she turns her head to avoid eye contact.

"Fine." Giving into her requests Kokugan begins to answer her question. "If you really want to know, you can't tell anyone, got that?!" Kokugan spoke heavily at the end to ensure she heard him.

"Got it sir!" She shouts back with a big smile in excitement that she going to be holding a big secret that only the two will know.

"Remember when we first got to Konoha?" Michiyo nods her head as she listens to Kokugan explain. "That night before we met up with the Hokage I had to.." Interrupted by Naruto.

"Hey, Mr. Raincoat!" Naruto runs in without thought.

"What did I say about calling me that?!" Kokugan advances towards Naruto with great speed.

'Dam you Uzumaki!' Michiyo now disappointed that she'll never get to hear Kokugan's secret.

"Oh dam! Sorry, I wasn't paying attention to what I said." Naruto begins to look for an escape route. "Please don't use nightmare gaze on me, I promise I won't do it again." Naruto now panicked drops to the floor begging him.

Kokugan begins to calm down watching Naruto gravel in the dirt. "Get up!" He says with disgust as he walks off. Naruto obeying the order gets up. "What did you bring back with you?"

"Uh, well I found some rare but tasty mushrooms." Naruto shows him with a smile hoping this might serve as an apology. "I even found a few birds nests so now we can have eggs during the trip."

Soon after Naruto's appearance Hinata and Sakura showed up. "Hey guys." Sakura greeting the three of them.

"Hey Sakura." Naruto recovers from his close encounter with Kokugan.

'Dammit! Now there's no way I'm going to find out what happened with Kokugan.' Michiyo now frustrated.

"I got some apples and pears." Sakura shows of her arm full of fruits she gathered.

"Those look good Sakura." Naruto says as he inches closer. "What did you bring Hinata?" He looks to her.

"I g-got some stuff too." Hinata spoke softly. "I got um.." She looks to see what she's holding. 'Naruto-kun is looking at me.' She begins to blush as she feels his eyes glare at her. "..this." She pushes her gathering forward to be observed.

"Looks good." Naruto says happily with a smile.

"Ok, time to go." Kokugan motions to head out. "Our ride will be waiting but your mission won't be." The group are about to head out when Michiyo speaks up.

"Aren't we forgetting somebody?" Michiyo places her hand on her head scratching it as she tries to remember.

"Where's Asamoya?" Hinata asks softly.

"What the hell?!" Asamoya shouts with frustration. She runs from out of the forest to meet up with the rest of the group. "I thought I told you to wait for me." Giving Kokugan a sad pathetic look.

"Hehe, ops. Sorry Asamoya." Michiyo looks at her with a faint smile as she silently giggles to herself.

"Shall we get going?" Kokugan asks. Everyone nods their heads. "Good." They take off towards the seaport.

After finally arriving at seaport they boarded the boat that was waiting for them. After making departure the group begin to get ready for their first night at sea. All except Asamoya who was hanging over the side vomiting like crazy from her seasickness.

"Um, Michiyo?" Hinata with concern in her voice.

"Yes Hinata." Michiyo looks to her.

"Is Asamoya going to be ok?" Hinata turns her head towards Michiyo.

"It's fine. She gets seasick all the time." Michiyo then gets an idea. "You know what might help?" She then smiles as she looks to Kokugan. "Can you levitate a rug for Asamoya to rest on?"

"Why would I waste my chakra for that?" Kokugan with his back to the group stands alone at the front of the boat.

"It'll ease her from the movements of the boat." Michiyo runs up to Kokugan and looks into his eyes, "And maybe she can tell us a story about herself to keep her mind occupied from her sickness long enough for her to fall asleep." She then begins to give her puppy dog eyes to soften him up in hopes he'll give in.

Ignoring her puppie dog eyes he turns his head away from her. "I guess I could listen to what her life was like." Kokugan then turns his attention to a laid out rug. placing his hand on the rug he put his own chakra into it before making his hand signs. "Dark Technique: Chakra Possession!" The rug begins to levitate. "Asamoya." Kokugan grabs her attention.

"Yea? Did you ca.." She answers Kokugan before she drops her head back over the side of the boat. Asamoya letting out a hurl that made the group except for Kokugan grab their stomachs. "Sorry. You were saying?" She said as she popped her head back up from the side of the boat.

"Get on that rug." Kokugan orders her. "Did you rub some mint under your nose?"

"Oh, I knew I forgot something." Asamoya giving a lost look as she feels under her nose in search of the mint she never applied. She quickly gets on the floating rug Kokugan prepped for her. "Sakura."

"Yea I have it right here." Answering Asamoya before she could ask Sakura pulls out the mint she held for her. "I'll crush it up real quick so you can rub it on." Sakura turns her head to Kokugan. "Kokugan." He gives her his attention. "I think we should have her inside away from the sea's breeze." Nodding his head he begins to move Asamoya into the lower deck inside the boat out of the breeze. "Good, now I'll apply the mint and you can begin your story." Sakura giving Asamoya a big smile.

"Thanks guys, but.." Asamoya looks around. "..what story are you talking about?"

"The one about you silly." Michiyo giving her a smile winking her eye.

"You guys really want to hear a story about me?" Asamoya sits up slightly with a smile as she looks upon the eager faces.

"Yea, you could tell us everything. It'll be nice to know who you are." Naruto shouts with joy that he's going to hear about a new companion's life story.

"Oh Naruto." Rolling her eyes Sakura shakes her head. "You and your need to search for more sob stories." Hinata giving a small giggle to Sakura's truth.

"Well, I thought it would be nice to see who we're going to be working with on this mission." Naruto explains. "Besides, there's no way I can sleep this early. And maybe the others will share their stories too." Giving his grand smile he looks to Asamoya with anticipation.

"That's not likely to happen." Michiyo giggles to Naruto's over assumption as she looks to Kokugan.

"Ok then. I guess you guys will get to learn what the Kumo clan is about." She smiles over the group. Asamoya then leans back on the floating rug provided by Kokugan. "As for Michiyo and Kokugan, this will be the first time you heard the story too, so you're going to need to pay attention as well." Her smile grows bigger as she stares at Kokugan as stands watch from the doorway. "Well, my name is Asamoya Kuma." Pointing at herself with a big smile. "And I come from the Kuma Clan. We possess the Storm Kekkei Genkai."

"Wow..That's sounds so cool!" Naruto easily amazed begins to get ahead of himself. "So does that mean you can make it rain, hail, thunder like pow pow, boom.." Standing up he starts motioning as if he's actually throwing bolts of lightning himself. "..zap, bang? Man that would be awesome to do." He says with a big smile.

Grabbing Naruto by his wrist, Sakura yanks him back down to the floor with force. "Shut up and let her finish, Naruto!"

Sitting up right after going face first into the floor, he responds as he rubs his face. "Sorry, I guess I got carried away." Giving the group his usual big dumb grin.

"It's ok Naruto." Asamoya smiles at his antics. "But you were kinda right about what we are able to do. We can control rain and thunder but not hail or throw lightning bolts." Giving a small giggle as she replays Naruto's acting out his thunder wielding ability in her head. "Our Kekkei Genkai is actually formed from both wind and lightning natures. My clan were once travelers going from one village to the next. I don't really know our exact history but when we get home my gramps can tell you that part." Smiling as she bares thought of her grandfather.

"You mean that old drunken crazy geezard?" Michiyo shoots off at Asamoya.

"Yea.." Putting her hand behind her head as she leans back a bit with a smile. "He sure loves his sake." Returning back her story Asamoya leans forward as she continues. "Seeing he was still a young boy when our clan came to the Claw Village he could easily fill in that part. Ever since I could remember, our clan was the village's forecasters slash weather controllers. We helped the Daimyo and his clan who are mainly farmers."

"You mean 'Her' clan." Kokugan corrects her.

"Oh, yes. Almost forgot about that little fiasco." Faintly smiling Asamoya looks to Kokugan.

"Fiasco? What do you mean?" Hinata asks in confusion as Naruto and Sakura looked at her with the same question written on their faces.

"You guys will find out after we meet the Daimyo." Michiyo insures the three Konoha ninjas with a smile.

"My mother is part of the village council and head of weather forecasting. As for my dad, well he didn't obtain the kekkei genkai like the rest of the clan did so he's mostly a stay at home dad." Asamoya looks upon the faces of the group as they're taking great interest in her story. "Also, can't forget my little brother." Giving a small chuckle. "He's such a knucklehead."

'I wonder what she meant by little fiasco.' Hinata becoming lost in thought starts to ponder about the mission that lays ahead. 'This mission seems to be getting more intense by the moment.' Hinata's expression begins to fill with doubt.


	11. Almost Home

**~Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Naruto or any character based off Naruto~**

**There isn't going to be an appearance made by Sasuke, sorry. I know this doesn't follow the main storyline, but I figured with all the other fanfics out there that do just that, this could go into a whole new direction for some originality. As for time slot, the 'Nightmare Gaze' chapter should hint sometime after the 'Invasion of Pein' Arch. Naruto should be 16 while the OCs are 16 (Asamoya/Michiyo) and 17 (Kokugan) to help clear things up.**

**Now for Chapter eleven. Please enjoy, looking forward to reading reviews.  
**

_"_" = Speech_

_'_' = Thoughts_

_:_: = Location_

Almost Home:

Late at night Kokugan and Asamoya are the only ones awake. Kokugan is standing guard at the door way to the lower deck of the boat while Asamoya is telling her story to the sleeping bodies that surround her. "..and along with my Kekkei Genkai, I have a rare trait that gives me a great amount of strength. My gramps and I are the only of my clan still alive with this trait. Maybe when we return to the village, you can meet my family. What do you.." Asamoya turns over slightly to notice that she's been talking to thin air. Calmly she smiles and lays back down to notice Kokugan is still standing post. Unable to fall asleep even with her story she calls to him. "Kokugan."

Standing post he doesn't move to the call of his name. "Yes, Asamoya?" Kokugan says with a settle tone.

"Um.." Unsure how to ask she sits herself up just enough to get a full view of him. "..would you mind if you could just use sleep gaze on me?" Asamoya says with her restless voice.

"Now why would I do that? Your not my opponent and you also not of any threat to me to use it on you." Kokugan says without hesitation.

"I know.." Asamoya begins to explain. "..it's just I'm so tired and I can't sleep. Also, I don't think you really want to keep using your chakra keeping me from the boat's rocking. The longer I rest, the less chakra you'll have to use because of me." She pleas for a solution to her seasickness.

Kokugan turning his head to look at her as if the hood he wears wasn't blocking his vision of her. "Are you sure about this?" Asamoya nods her and mumbles. Taking her mumble as a yes, Kokugan turns around and walks to her removing his shades. Removing his right glove he lifts her face with his bare hand. Staring into her eyes he calmly speaks "Just this once. Sleep Gaze." He says gently as he looks into her eyes. Soon after her body collapses and she's asleep. Kokugan picks her up from the rug and releases his jutsu. He then sets her in her bed.

Half awake Hinata just witnessed Kokugan's first act of kindness towards another person. 'Look at him. He eased her suffering by using the same jutsu he used on me. So it appears he does have a heart somewhere in there. Poor Kokugan, what have you been through to make possibly the kindest person into something that wont let himself feel anything?' Noticing Kokugan had just turned his attention to her, Hinata pretends she's fully asleep out of fear. 'Why is he looking at me?'

'This girl. Her suffering. Her desires to make herself known as a person worthy.' Kokugan lost in thought stares at Hinata's sleeping body. 'But her father.'

: Weeks ago:

"You ungrateful bastard! You think just because you possess the Tekio Suru and Shinime, you can win the right of honor in this clan?" A dark heavily robed figure spoke. "If it wasn't for that dojutsu or that thing you carry with you, we would have banished you long ago."

"We know your strong Kokugan." Another dark figure spoke amongst four other robed figures that surround the heavily robed figure. "We just think that.."

"Don't encourage him!" Scolded a second figure. "He isn't even that strong. It took him til the age of eleven to perfect his drain barrier when he should of been perfected by the age of eight."

"He lacks discipline. Something that would be suspected by someone who's fa.." The third figure spoke before getting cut off by the heavily robed figure.

"Don't speak of that person if you take pride in your ability to speak fellow councilman." The Heavily robed figure says with authority as he pulls out a rod from within the sleeve of his robes.

"You wouldn't dare threaten a fellow councilman by punishing me for such a law?" The third figure asked in surprise.

"I would. Just ask Kokugan. He's my blood and he still paid the price for breaking this law." Causing his fellow councilman to rethink his choice of words, the heavily robed figure continued. "We have laws that demand to be followed, not broken. Thus, reason for punishment."

"So why am I here?" Questioned Kokugan as he is set to one knee in front of his superiors. "I already told you, I had to what was best."

"By doing this 'what was best' you put this village in even more risk." Spoke the second figure. "Their will be even more trouble coming just because you did what was best!" The figure spoke in a harsh manner.

"Because of you. I had to speak with other clan heads outside our village." The Heavily robed figure spoke. "I managed to make arrangements with a clan from the Fire Country, Konohakagure, the Hyuuga Clan. He said his village has the ability to assist with our situation but in return for helping us, he requested that we assist him with a mission of his own."

"You will travel to Konoha and gather help along with the Hyuuga Heiress Hinata." The forth figure spoke. Handing over a mission scroll to Kokugan, she continues. "We were forced with no other choice but to request that you take up this mission. You and your team will set out immediately. You will bring only those you see fit for this mission along with the girl as your secondary mission."

Taking the scroll from the figure, Kokugan slips it up his sleeve. "I accept." Standing up he bows to the five figures in front of him before turning around. As he walks off his movement is halted by the heavily robed figure's last words.

"Remember this Kokugan, if you complete this mission, the council may rethink your role within the clan. But if you fail, your left hand with it's markings will be set to waste." The heavily robed figure said coldly.

:Present:

'My mission is too important.' Holding his left hand as he continues to look upon Hinata. 'I can't let little things like this effect me. I've trained too hard for too long. When I'm done with my mission, the council will have no choice but to appreciate my abilities and consider letting me take my place in the clan with pride and honor. I can't..will not fail!' Allowing his emotions to build he clenches his fists and punches the bedpost nearby.

'Oh no! What happened?' Panicked from the hard slamming of his fist Hinata bravely peaks through one eye to see what was going on. She noticed nobody was around except her friends who were all asleep. 'Where did he go?' Trying to look around without moving her head she spots him slowly walking back to his post. She watches as he proceeds outside and closes the door behind him. Soon after she hears his voice with rage yelling and cursing into the night. 'Kokugan! What happened to you? I have to know.' After a few moments of listening to Kokugan's shouting, it becomes silent and she eventually falls back to sleep.

:Two Days Later:

"Hey guys!" Michiyo calls out from one side of the boat. "Hurry! You gotta see this." Happily she grins her biggest grin.

"Oh holy mother of jutsu!" Naruto astonished at the sight. "How the hell did you reel that in?" Giving Michiyo's fish a look of a glutton who's sitting in buffet restaurant.

"It was easy." She winks to Naruto. "I'm just too strong to be getting puny anchovies, so I got this bad boy here." She now taunts Naruto by pointing out the difference between both their catches that day.

"What!" Naruto enraged by her teasing. "I'm not weak, I just happen to be on the wrong side of the boat." He attempts to make an excuse for his poor catch that's no bigger then the hook he caught it on.

"Wow Michiyo. You must of been a fisher or something back at the village." Sakura says with praise as she ignores Naruto's idiot-ness.

"Or something is right Sakura." Michiyo hands her the fish. "I really like your cooking and I want to taste this guy after you've taken care of him." Michiyo says almost licking her lips.

"Sure thing. One jumbo fish fillet coming up." Sakura carries Michiyo's catch that happens to be half her size down into the kitchen below deck.

"Sakura." Kokugan catching her attention as he calls to her from the front of the boat. "Better prep and serve that fish soon. Today was the day we were suppose to blindfold you three."

"Oh yea, that's right." Michiyo holding a finger to her mouth as she recalls his words from five days ago.

"I'll give you half a day longer before the blindfolds are on." Kokugan turns his head. This will be our last supper on this boat, so make it good. After this your not going to be cooking again until we make port at Land of Claw." Sakura nods as she vanishes below deck. "Michiyo."

Michiyo looks up from teasing Naruto with her grins. "Yes Kokugan?"

"Check on Asamoya from me please. Make sure she doesn't roll out of bed again waking her up." Kokugan orders her.

"You got it!" Michiyo says with enthusiasm before running off with a last second shot at Naruto. "Bye weakling, maybe you'll get fish bigger then your thumbnail this time." Letting out a giggle her laugh fades with the shutting of the door leading below deck.

Seeing Naruto in a state of rage from Michiyo's taunting Hinata speaks in hope to calm him down. "Hey, N-Naruto-kun." Getting his attention Hinata begins to blush as she turns her head away avoiding his stare. "Maybe you'll get a f-fish that will put her's t-to shame." She tries to make the best of things. "L-like the saying goes, th-there's plenty of f-fish in the sea." Giving a faint laugh Hinata nearly blows up with her red face from having to say much in one shot to him since the journey started.

"You know what?" Naruto's grand smile returns to his face. "Your right Hinata. I can do this and Michiyo wont know what hit her when I catch a fish bigger then this boat." Giving himself a hardy laugh he runs off the his fishing spot and casts his rod as Hinata's face regains it's proper color.

'That's good, you show Michiyo you wont take her teasing by proving your just as good as she is.' Hinata smiling from the effect her words had on Naruto. She then turns to Kokugan as he continues to stare into the empty sea ahead of them. 'Kokugan, your almost home. What ever happened to you must of happened there. I must find out why do you act the way you do. There's has to be a way we can help but we can't help if you won't let us know what's wrong.' Hinata's face overcomes with concern as it falls turning her gaze to the floor below her.


End file.
